Effects of handedness consistency and saccade execution on eyewitness memory in cued- and free-recall procedures

Effects of saccadic eye movements on episodic & semantic memory fluency in older and younger participants

Research has demonstrated that performing a sequence of saccadic horizontal eye movements prior to retrieval facilitates performance on tests of episodic memory. This has been observed in both laboratory tasks of retention and autobiographical memory. To date, the work has centred on performance in younger individuals. This paper extends previous investigations by examining the effects of saccadic eye movements in older persons. Autobiographical episodic and semantic memory fluency was assessed in younger (age range 18-35, mean = 22.50), and older (age range 55-87, mean = 70.35) participants following saccadic (vs. fixation control) manipulations. The main effects of eye movements and age were found for episodic autobiographical memory (greater fluency after eye movements and in younger participants). Semantic autobiographical memory showed a main effect of age (greater fluency in younger participants), whereas general semantic memory showed no effect of age or eye movement. These findings indicate that saccadic horizontal eye movements can enhance episodic personal memory in older individuals. This has implications as a technique to improve autobiographical recollection in the elderly and as an adjunct in reminiscence therapy.

On the Effect of Bilateral Eye Movements on Memory Retrieval in Ageing and Dementia

It has been reported that performing bilateral eye movements for a short period can lead to an enhancement of memory retrieval and recall (termed the “saccade induced retrieval effect (SIRE)”). The source of this effect has been debated within the literature and the phenomenon has come under scrutiny as the robustness of the effect has recently been questioned. To date investigations of SIRE have largely been restricted to younger adult populations. Here, across two experiments, we assess the robustness and generalisability of the SIRE specifically in relation to disease and ageing. Experiment 1 employed a between subject’s design and presented younger and older participants with 36 words prior to completing one of three eye movement conditions (bilateral, antisaccade or a fixation eye movement). Participants then performed a word recognition task. Experiment 2 assessed the SIRE in individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Mild cognitive impairment and Parkinson’s by employing an online within subject’s design. Results showed no significant difference between groups in the number of words recognised based on eye movement condition. Neither experiment 1 or 2 replicated the SIRE effect therefore the findings from this study add to the growing number of studies that have failed to replicate the SIRE effect.

Eyewitness memory in the news can affect the strategic regulation of memory reporting

The public is increasingly exposed to news about eyewitness memory errors. This study draws from the strategic memory regulation framework [Goldsmith, M., Koriat, A., & Weinberg-Eliezer, A. (2002). Strategic regulation of grain size memory reporting. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 131(1), 73-95. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.131.1.73] to make predictions about how eyewitness memory reporting is affected by exposure to such reports. In Experiment 1, participants (n = 226) viewed a mock crime, were exposed to a fictitious news report about eyewitness memory accuracy (memory is accurate, memory is inaccurate, or a control condition), and then recalled the mock crime. Participants who read that eyewitness memory is inaccurate were less confident in their memory accuracy and reported less information about the mock crime compared to those in the other conditions. The specificity and accuracy of recall did not vary across conditions, however. In Experiment 2, participants (n = 2,491) watched a mock crime and were asked to identify the perpetrator from a simultaneous lineup. Participants who read that eyewitness memory is inaccurate evaluated their memory for the mock crime as relatively poorer but their lineup decisions did not differ compared to other participants. This suggests that news about eyewitness memory inaccuracy affects how people evaluate their memory capability, and differentially affects memory output depending on the memory task.

Why are consistently-handed individuals more authoritarian? The role of need for cognitive closure

Recent studies indicate that individuals with consistent hand preference are more authoritarian than individuals whose preference is relatively inconsistent. We explored the role of epistemic needs in the handedness-authoritarianism relationship. Based on findings that consistent individuals are less cognitively flexible than inconsistent individuals, we hypothesized that consistent-handers would report greater need for definite knowledge. To measure this, we administered the revised Need for Cognitive Closure scale to a sample of undergraduates (N = 235), along with measures of handedness consistency and authoritarian submission. Consistent individuals scored significantly higher on authoritarian submission and need for closure. Need for closure fully mediated the relationship between consistency and submission. Consistent individuals also expressed greater prejudice against authoritarian out-groups such as immigrants and liberals. This effect was partially mediated by authoritarian submission. We theorize that consistent-handers' cognitive inflexibility leads them to covet definite knowledge. These individuals turn to authoritarianism because it promises to stifle dissent and protect existing (conventional) knowledge.

Saccade-induced retrieval enhancement and the recovery of perceptual item-specific information

Saccade-induced retrieval enhancement (SIRE) effects refer to the finding that memory can be enhanced when a short period of saccadic eye movements takes place prior to retrieval. Previous published work testifies to this eye movement advantage, but no work has yet examined if SIRE effects can be found when retrieval demands are high as a result of testing non-studied memoranda that are identical in name/conceptual codes, similar in perceptual features, but differ in terms of perceptual-item-specific information. The results indicate SIRE effects can be found under such conditions and are independent of encoding orientation (intentional vs. incidental). More particularly, SIRE effects manifested themselves in terms of the retrieval of item-specific detail and recollection (vs. familiarity). In terms of the latter, recollection but not familiarity was enhanced by eye movements. These findings are considered in the context of extant theories of SIRE and related research.

The Return of the Repressed: The Persistent and Problematic Claims of Long-Forgotten Trauma

Can purely psychological trauma lead to a complete blockage of autobiographical memories? This long-standing question about the existence of repressed memories has been at the heart of one of the most heated debates in modern psychology. These so-called memory wars originated in the 1990s, and many scholars have assumed that they are over. We demonstrate that this assumption is incorrect and that the controversial issue of repressed memories is alive and well and may even be on the rise. We review converging research and data from legal cases indicating that the topic of repressed memories remains active in clinical, legal, and academic settings. We show that the belief in repressed memories occurs on a nontrivial scale (58%) and appears to have increased among clinical psychologists since the 1990s. We also demonstrate that the scientifically controversial concept of dissociative amnesia, which we argue is a substitute term for memory repression, has gained in popularity. Finally, we review work on the adverse side effects of certain psychotherapeutic techniques, some of which may be linked to the recovery of repressed memories. The memory wars have not vanished. They have continued to endure and contribute to potentially damaging consequences in clinical, legal, and academic contexts.

Is self-report a valid measure of unimanual object-based task performance?

Hand preference is commonly measured via self-report using instruments known as handedness inventories. These instruments query which hand subjects use to perform unimanual object-based tasks and also the consistency of usage. Scores reveal which hand people report using most (i.e., which hand is preferred). Some people report highly consistent usage of their preferred hand while others report relatively inconsistent usage. These reports are often assumed to be accurate descriptions of people's actual behavior, but empirical evidence concerning their validity is surprisingly scant. In the present research, subjects completed a handedness inventory on which higher scores indicated more consistent usage of the preferred hand. After a brief filled interval, subjects performed tasks listed on the inventory, spontaneously choosing which hand to use for each task. Subjects who scored higher on the inventory used the preferred hand more often. Subjects were then timed while performing the tasks as fast as they could with each hand. Subjects were faster when using their preferred hand and the magnitude of the preferred hand advantage was positively correlated with self-reported consistency. These results support the validity of inventory scores by showing that they are related to spontaneous hand choice and manual fluency when performing inventory tasks.