Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Listen up, eye movements play a role in verbal memory retrieval

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Psychological Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

People fixate on blank spaces if visual stimuli previously occupied these regions of space. This so-called “looking at nothing” (LAN) phenomenon is said to be a part of information retrieval from internal memory representations, but the exact nature of the relationship between LAN and memory retrieval is unclear. While evidence exists for an influence of LAN on memory retrieval for visuospatial stimuli, evidence for verbal information is mixed. Here, we tested the relationship between LAN behavior and memory retrieval in an episodic retrieval task where verbal information was presented auditorily during encoding. When participants were allowed to gaze freely during subsequent memory retrieval, LAN occurred, and it was stronger for correct than for incorrect responses. When eye movements were manipulated during memory retrieval, retrieval performance was higher when participants fixated on the area associated with to-be-retrieved information than when fixating on another area. Our results provide evidence for a functional relationship between LAN and memory retrieval that extends to verbal information.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allopenna, P. D., Magnuson, J. S., & Tanenhaus, M. K. (1998). Tracking the time course of spoken word recognition using eye movements: Evidence for continuous mapping models. Journal of Memory and Language, 38, 419–439. doi:10.1006/jmla.1997.2558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altmann, G. T. M. (2004). Language-mediated eye movements in the absence of a visual world: the “blank screen paradigm”. Cognition, 93, 79–87. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2004.02.005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altmann, G. T. M., & Kamide, Y. (2007). The real-time mediation of visual attention by language and world knowledge: Linking anticipatory (and other) eye movements to linguistic processing. Journal of Memory and Language, 57, 502–518. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2006.12.004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altmann, G. T. M., & Kamide, Y. (2009). Discourse-mediation of the mapping between language and the visual world: Eye movements and mental representation. Cognition, 111, 55–71. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.12.005.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, S. E., & Spivey, M. J. (2009). The enactment of language: decades of interactions between linguistic and motor processes. Language and Cognition, 1, 87–111. doi:10.1515/LANGCOG.2009.005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barsalou, L. W. (2008). Grounded cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 617–645. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093639.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barsalou, L. W., Kyle Simmons, W., Barbey, A. K., & Wilson, C. D. (2003). Grounding conceptual knowledge in modality-specific systems. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 84–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brandt, S. A., & Stark, L. W. (1997). Spontaneous eye movements during visual imagery reflect the content of the visual scene. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 9, 27–38.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Danker, J. F., & Anderson, J. R. (2010). The ghosts of brain states past: remembering reactivates the brain regions engaged during encoding. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 87–102. doi:10.1037/a0017937.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira, F., Apel, J., & Henderson, J. M. (2008). Taking a new look at looking at nothing. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12, 405–410. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2008.07.007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Foulsham, T., & Kingstone, A. (2013). Fixation-dependent memory for natural scenes: An experimental test of scanpath theory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142, 41–56. doi:10.1037/a0028227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godijn, R., & Theeuwes, J. (2012). Overt is no better than covert when rehearsing visuo-spatial information in working memory. Memory & Cognition, 40, 52–61. doi:10.3758/s13421-011-0132-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, E. R., & Spivey, M. J. (2003). Eye movements and problem solving: Guiding attention guides thought. Psychological Science, 14, 462–466.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holm, L., & Mäntylä, T. (2007). Memory for scenes: Refixations reflect retrieval. Memory & Cognition, 35, 1664–1674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hommel, B. (1998). Event files: Evidence for automatic integration of stimulus-response episodes. Visual Cognition, 5, 183–216. doi:10.1080/713756773.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hommel, B. (2004). Event files: Feature binding in and across perception and action. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8, 494–500. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2004.08.007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hoover, M. A., & Richardson, D. C. (2008). When facts go down the rabbit hole: Contrasting features and objecthood as indexes to memory. Cognition, 108, 533–542. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.02.011.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huettig, F., Mishra, R. K., & Olivers, C. N. L. (2012). Mechanisms and representations of language-mediated visual attention. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 1–11. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huettig, F., Olivers, C. N. L., & Hartsuiker, R. J. (2011). Looking, language, and memory: Bridging research from the visual world and visual search paradigms. Acta Psychologica, 137, 138–150. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2010.07.013.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jahn, G., & Braatz, J. (2014). Memory indexing of sequential symptom processing in diagnostic reasoning. Cognitive Psychology, 68, 59–97. doi:10.1016/j.cogpsych.2013.11.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johansson, R., Holsanova, J., Dewhurst, R., & Holmqvist, K. (2012). Eye movements during scene recollection have a functional role, but they are not reinstatements of those produced during encoding. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 38, 1289–1314. doi:10.1037/a0026585.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johansson, R., Holsanova, J., & Holmqvist, K. (2006). Pictures and spoken descriptions elicit similar eye movements during mental imagery, both in light and in complete darkness. Cognitive Science, 30, 1053–1079. doi:10.1207/s15516709cog0000.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johansson, R., & Johansson, M. (2014). Look here, eye movements play a functional role in memory retrieval. Psychological Science, 25, 236–242. doi:10.1177/0956797613498260.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kent, C., & Lamberts, K. (2008). The encoding-retrieval relationship: Retrieval as mental simulation. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12, 92–98. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2007.12.004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laeng, B., Bloem, I. M., D’Ascenzo, S., & Tommasi, L. (2014). Scrutinizing visual images: The role of gaze in mental imagery and memory. Cognition, 131, 263–283. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2014.01.003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laeng, B., & Teodorescu, D. (2002). Eye scanpaths during visual imagery reenact those of perception of the same visual scene. Cognitive Science, 26, 207–231. doi:10.1207/s15516709cog2602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mäntylä, T., & Holm, L. (2006). Gaze control and recollective experience in face recognition. Visual Cognition, 14, 365–386. doi:10.1080/13506280500347992.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martarelli, C. S., & Mast, F. W. (2010). Preschool children’s eye-movements during pictorial recall. The British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 29, 425–436. doi:10.1348/026151010X495844.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martarelli, C. S., & Mast, F. W. (2013). Eye movements during long-term pictorial recall. Psychological Research, 77, 303–309. doi:10.1007/s00426-012-0439-7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mast, F. W., & Kosslyn, S. M. (2002). Eye movements during visual mental imagery. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6, 271–272.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mayberry, M. R., Crocker, M. W., & Knoeferle, P. (2009). Learning to attend: a connectionist model of situated language comprehension. Cognitive Science, 33, 449–496. doi:10.1111/j.1551-6709.2009.01019.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, C. D., Bransford, J. D., & Franks, J. J. (1977). Levels of processing versus transfer appropriate processing. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 16, 519–533. doi:10.1016/S0022-5371(77)80016-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulckhuyse, M., & Theeuwes, J. (2010). Unconscious attentional orienting to exogenous cues: A review of the literature. Acta Psychologica, 134, 299–309. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2010.03.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neisser, U. (1976). Cognition and reality: Principles and implications of cognitive psychology. San Francisco, CA: WH Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Platzer, C., Bröder, A., & Heck, D. W. (2014). Deciding with the eye: How the visually manipulated accessibility of information in memory influences decision behavior. Memory & Cognition, 42, 595–608. doi:10.3758/s13421-013-0380-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Postle, B. R., Idzikowski, C., Sala, S. Della, Logie, R. H., & Baddeley, A. D. (2006). The selective disruption of spatial working memory by eye movements. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59, 100–120. doi:10.1080/17470210500151410.

  • Pylyshyn, Z. W. (2001). Visual indexes, preconceptual objects, and situated vision. Cognition, 80, 127–158.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rayner, K. (2009). Eye movements and attention in reading, scene perception, and visual search. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62, 1457–1506. doi:10.1080/17470210902816461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Renkewitz, F., & Jahn, G. (2012). Memory Indexing: A novel method for tracing memory processes in complex cognitive tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 38, 1622–1639. doi:10.1037/a0028073.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, D. C., Altmann, G. T. M., Spivey, M. J., & Hoover, M. A. (2009). Much ado about eye movements to nothing: A response to Ferreira et al.: Taking a new look at looking at nothing. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13, 235–236. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2009.02.006.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, D. C., & Kirkham, N. Z. (2004). Multimodal events and moving locations: eye movements of adults and 6-month-olds reveal dynamic spatial indexing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 46–62. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.133.1.46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, D. C., & Spivey, M. J. (2000). Representation, space and Hollywood Squares: Looking at things that aren’t there anymore. Cognition, 76, 269–295. doi:10.1016/S0010-0277(00)00084-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal, R., Rosnow, R. L., & Rubin, D. B. (2000). Contrasts and effect sizes in behavioral research: A correlational approach. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rugg, M. D., Johnson, J. D., Park, H., & Uncapher, M. R. (2008). Encoding-retrieval overlap in human episodic memory: A functional neuroimaging perspective. Progress in Brain Research, 169, 339–352. doi:10.1016/S0079-6123(07)00021-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rugg, M. D., & Wilding, E. (2000). Retrieval processing and episodic memory. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 108–115.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scholz, A., von Helversen, B., & Rieskamp, J. (2015). Eye movements reveal memory processes during similarity-and rule-based decision making. Cognition, 136, 228–246. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2014.11.019.

  • Spivey, M. J. (2007). The Continuity of Mind. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spivey, M. J., & Dale, R. (2011). Eye movements both reveal and influence problem solving. In S. P. Liversedge, I. D. Gilchrist, & S. Everling (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of eye movements (pp. 551–562). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spivey, M. J., & Geng, J. J. (2001). Oculomotor mechanisms activated by imagery and memory: Eye movements to absent objects. Psychological Research, 65, 235–241. doi:10.1007/s004260100059.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tanenhaus, M. K., Spivey-Knowlton, M. J., Eberhard, K. M., & Sedivy, J. C. (1995). Integration of visual and linguistic information in spoken language comprehension. Science, 268, 1632–1634.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Theeuwes, J. (2010). Top-down and bottom-up control of visual selection. Acta Psychologica, 135(2), 77–99. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2010.02.006.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Theeuwes, J., Belopolsky, A. V., & Olivers, C. N. L. (2009). Interactions between working memory, attention and eye movements. Acta Psychologica, 132, 106–114. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2009.01.005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, L. E., & Lleras, A. (2009). Covert shifts of attention function as an implicit aid to insight. Cognition, 111, 168–174. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2009.01.005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tulving, E. (1983). Elements of episodic memory. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tulving, E., & Thomson, D. M. (1973). Encoding specificity and retrieval processes in episodic memory. Psychological Review, 80, 352–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, M. (2002). Six views of embodied cognition. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9, 625–636.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yantis, S., & Jonides, J. (1981). Abrupt visual onsets and selective attention: Evidence from visual search. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 7, 937–947.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Claudia Dietzel and Lars Eberspach for collecting the data that was reported here, Denise Schneider for recording auditory materials and Anja Prittmann for helpful comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Chemnitz, 09120, Chemnitz, Germany

    Agnes Scholz & Josef F. Krems

  2. Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Groningen, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands

    Katja Mehlhorn

Authors
  1. Agnes Scholz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Katja Mehlhorn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Josef F. Krems
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Agnes Scholz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Scholz, A., Mehlhorn, K. & Krems, J.F. Listen up, eye movements play a role in verbal memory retrieval. Psychological Research 80, 149–158 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-014-0639-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-014-0639-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation