Eye-closure effects and the influence of short-term storage and processing capacity on episodic memory

Parker, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4066-7339, Parkin, Adam ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9796-5607 and Dagnall, Neil ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0657-7604 (2022) Eye-closure effects and the influence of short-term storage and processing capacity on episodic memory. Memory, 30 (8). pp. 1018-1030. ISSN 0965-8211

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Abstract

Two experiments investigated differences in short-term storage and processing capacity on the magnitude of eye-closure effects on episodic memory. Experiment 1 compared individuals with high (vs. low) forward and backward spans in the free-recall of words retrieved under both eyes closed and open conditions. Main effects of both forward and backward span capacity (greater recall for the high span group) and eye-closure (higher recall with eyes closed) were found. Eye-closure was also associated with more ‘remember’ responses. Experiment 2 compared individuals with high (vs. low) reading spans and found main effects for reading span and eye-closure (greater recall for the high span group and with eyes closed). Remember responses were associated with both high reading span and eye-closure. The absence of interactions is discussed in terms of explanations of eye-closure effects that differentiate between modality-general and modality-specific processes.