Working Memory Guides Perceptual Decisions Through Fast Capture and Slow Drift

The top-down influence of working memory (WM) can manifest as both attentional capture and small systematic biases in perceptual judgement (i.e., "tinted lens" effect). Yet it remains unclear whether these influences arise from a single mechanism or reflect functionally distinct processes operating over different timescales. Across two experiments, we embedded a perceptual estimation task during the delay interval of a WM task and tracked continuous mouse trajectories during both perceptual matching and subsequent WM tests. Hierarchical Bayesian mixture modeling revealed robust bidirectional attraction between memory and perception. Time-resolved analyses of mouse trajectories further revealed two distinct components: an early, endpoint-inconsistent deviation that varied with movement onset latency, whereas a slower, endpoint-consistent drift that closely tracked biases in the final report. This pattern is consistent with a fast, capture-like influence of the WM template, and a sustained bias in the evolving decision, respectively. Notably, the prospective influence of WM on perception expressed both early deviation and sustained drift, whereas the retrospective influence of perception on WM primarily involved the sustained component. These findings indicate that WM shapes perceptual decisions through at least two temporally distinct contributions, and illustrate how continuous trajectories can reveal the dynamic structure of top-down influences within single trials. Statement of RelevanceOur minds do not simply record the external world as it is, but reconstruct it actively through the lens of past experience and internal goals. Using continuous mouse-tracking, this study shows that working memory (WM) influences what we attend to and what we see, yet these effects unfold over different timescales. WM can momentarily capture attention toward memory-matching information while also producing a slower, sustained shift that changes how things appear. These findings suggest that WM serves as an active and flexible prior that continuously integrates past and present in shaping perceptual experience.