Looking ahead in working memory to guide sequential behaviour

Abstract

Working memory can maintain multiple sensory representations to serve unfolding sequential behaviour, such as while making tea or planning a route. How the human mind juggles internal representations as they become relevant to guide sequential behaviour remains poorly understood. Specifically, while there is good evidence that we can flexibly switch priorities among representations in working memory1, 2, 3, 4, it is unclear how and when dormant memory representations are brought into focus during sequential behaviour. Capitalising on a recently established and temporally precise gaze marker of internal selection5,6, we reveal that the focus in the mind moves to the next-relevant memory representation while behaviour associated with the presently relevant memory representation is still ongoing. Thus, like visual sampling of external objects in the world7, 8, 9, internal visual sampling also ‘looks ahead’ to the next object in memory during sequential behaviour.