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Diffuse predictions reshape WM representations at encoding

Poster Session E - Monday, March 9, 2026, 2:30 – 4:30 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Nursena Ataseven Özdemir^1,2 (), Şahcan Özdemir^2,1, Wouter Kruijne¹, Daniel Schneider², Elkan G. Akyürek¹; ¹University of Groningen, ²Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors

Previous work has shown that precise predictions can alter working memory (WM) representations through sharpening. However, we often deal with diffuse predictions with a range of potential outcomes. How such predictions affect neural representations remains unclear. In this study, we recorded EEG data from 40 participants who judged whether a probe grating was rotated clockwise or counterclockwise relative to a memorized orientation. Each memory item was preceded by a central color cue (red, green, or blue); two of these colors (predictive) cued two non-overlapping 90° segments of orientations that the item was sampled from in half of the trials; in the other half, a third (non-predictive) color was presented that signaled the item could have any possible orientation. Behavioral results revealed higher accuracy for predictable items, with systematic biases toward the center of the cued segment. EEG results revealed equally successful decoding of orientation for both predictable and unpredictable items. However, cross-condition decoding was significantly weaker than within-condition decoding, suggesting that the encoding format changed between conditions. Representational similarity analysis showed higher similarity between predictable items, with a representational bias towards the cued segment. Covariance matrices showed higher variance for predictable items, reflecting higher representational variability under predictive contexts. These effects were absent during the maintenance phase. Together, our findings suggest that diffuse predictions shape encoding at perceptual stages, which is accompanied by increased representational variance.

Topic Area: PERCEPTION & ACTION: Vision