Imagery-related eye movements in 3D space depend on individual differences in visual object imagery.

Chiquet, Sandra; Martarelli, Corinna S; Mast, Fred W (2022). Imagery-related eye movements in 3D space depend on individual differences in visual object imagery. Scientific Reports, 12(1), p. 14136. Nature Publishing Group 10.1038/s41598-022-18080-4

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During recall of visual information people tend to move their eyes even though there is nothing to see. Previous studies indicated that such eye movements are related to the spatial location of previously seen items on 2D screens, but they also showed that eye movement behavior varies significantly across individuals. The reason for these differences remains unclear. In the present study we used immersive virtual reality to investigate how individual tendencies to process and represent visual information contribute to eye fixation patterns in visual imagery of previously inspected objects in three-dimensional (3D) space. We show that participants also look back to relevant locations when they are free to move in 3D space. Furthermore, we found that looking back to relevant locations depends on individual differences in visual object imagery abilities. We suggest that object visualizers rely less on spatial information because they tend to process and represent the visual information in terms of color and shape rather than in terms of spatial layout. This finding indicates that eye movements during imagery are subject to individual strategies, and the immersive setting in 3D space made individual differences more likely to unfold.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Developmental Psychology
07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Cognitive Psychology, Perception and Methodology

UniBE Contributor:

Chiquet, Sandra, Martarelli, Corinna, Mast, Fred

Subjects:

100 Philosophy > 150 Psychology

ISSN:

2045-2322

Publisher:

Nature Publishing Group

Language:

English

Submitter:

Pubmed Import

Date Deposited:

24 Aug 2022 10:55

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 16:23

Publisher DOI:

10.1038/s41598-022-18080-4

PubMed ID:

35986076

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/172274

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/172274

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