What Do Eye Movements Reveal About Mental Imagery? Evidence From Visual And Verbal Elicitations

This paper shows evidence that eye movements reflect the positions of objects during the description of a previously seen picture; while listening to a spoken description, and during the retelling of a previously heard spoken description. This effect is equally strong in retelling from memory irrespective of whether the original elicitation was spoken or visual. In two experiments, eye movements were recorded while test subjects recalled objects that were either previously observed in a complex picture or presented in a verbal description. In both cases, the subjects spontaneously looked at regions on a blank board that reflected the spatial locations of the objects they recalled. These results contribute to evidence that the eyes are connected with the cognitive processes that occur during imagery. In the discussion the results are related to the current debate on mental imagery