Eye movements and memory for objects and their locations

In this paper we briefly describe preliminary data from two experiments that we have carried out to investigate the relationship between visual encoding and memory for objects and their locations within scenes. In these experiments, we recorded participants’ eye movements as they viewed a photograph of a cubicle with 12 objects positioned pseudo-randomly on a desk and shelves. After viewing the photograph, participants were taken to the actual cubicle where they undertook two memory tasks. The participants were asked to identify the 12 target objects (from the photograph) presented amongst 12 distractors. They were then given the 12 target objects and were required to place each of them in the location that they occupied in the photograph. These tests assessed participants’ memory for identity of the objects and their locations. In Experiment 1, we assessed the influence of the encoding period and the test delay on object identity and location memory. In Experiment 2, we manipulated scanning behaviour during encoding by “boxing” some of the objects in the photo. We showed that using boxes to change eye movement behaviour during encoding directly affected the nature of memory for the scene. The results of these studies indicate a fundamental relationship between visual encoding and memory for objects and their locations. We explain our findings in terms of the Visual Memory Model (Hollingworth & Henderson, 2002)