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ERIC Number: EJ1261164
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jul
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1072-0502
EISSN: N/A
Why Do We Retrace Our Visual Steps? Semantic and Episodic Memory in Gaze Reinstatement
Ramey, Michelle M.; Yonelinas, Andrew P.; Henderson, John M.
Learning & Memory, v27 n7 p275-283 Jul 2020
When we look at repeated scenes, we tend to visit similar regions each time--a phenomenon known as "resampling." Resampling has long been attributed to episodic memory, but the relationship between resampling and episodic memory has recently been found to be less consistent than assumed. A possibility that has yet to be fully considered is that factors unrelated to episodic memory may generate resampling: for example, other factors such as semantic memory and visual salience that are consistently present each time an image is viewed and are independent of specific prior viewing instances. We addressed this possibility by tracking participants' eyes during scene viewing to examine how semantic memory, indexed by the semantic informativeness of scene regions (i.e., "meaning"), is involved in resampling. We found that viewing more meaningful regions predicted resampling, as did episodic familiarity strength. Furthermore, we found that meaning interacted with familiarity strength to predict resampling. Specifically, the effect of meaning on resampling was attenuated in the presence of strong episodic memory, and vice versa. These results suggest that episodic and semantic memory are each involved in resampling behavior and are in competition rather than synergistically increasing resampling. More generally, this suggests that episodic and semantic memory may compete to guide attention.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. 500 Sunnyside Boulevard, Woodbury, NY 11797-2924. Tel: 800-843-4388; Tel: 516-367-8800; Fax: 516-422-4097; e-mail: cshpres@cshl.edu; Web site: http://learnmem.cshlp.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A