Saccades and handedness interact to affect scene memory
Timothy M Ellmore1, Bridget Mackin1, Kenneth Ng1
1Department of Psychology, City University of New York, City College, New York, NY, United States of America.
Peerj
|November 28, 2018
Summary
Repetitive saccades before scene encoding harm working memory, especially for non-consistent right-handers. Saccades before scene recognition do not improve accuracy, suggesting complex interactions between eye movements and memory.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
- Human Memory
Background:
- Repetitive saccades can enhance memory recall, particularly episodic memory.
- The impact of saccades on scene memory, a key aspect of episodic memory, requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how repetitive saccades influence working memory and recognition memory for novel scenes.
- To examine the interaction between saccades, handedness, and scene memory performance.
Main Methods:
- 111 adults completed a handedness inventory to assess direction and degree of handedness.
- Participants performed repetitive horizontal saccades or fixation for 30 seconds before or after scene working memory and recognition tasks.
- Regression analyses were used to evaluate accuracy and sensitivity (d-prime).
Main Results:
- Saccades before working memory improved accuracy based on handedness direction but not degree.
- Performing saccades before working memory led to worse subsequent recognition memory.
- Saccades before recognition showed a trend towards improved accuracy but not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
- Saccades and handedness interact to influence scene memory, with greater effects on encoding than recognition.
- Saccades preceding scene encoding negatively impact both short- and long-term memory, especially for individuals not consistently right-handed.
- Saccade execution prior to scene recognition does not appear to enhance accuracy.
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