title: Time in the eye of the beholder: Gaze position reveals spatial-temporal associations during encoding and memory retrieval of future and past.
abstract: Time is grounded in various ways, and previous studies point to a "mental time line" with past associated with the left, and future with the right side. In this study, we investigated whether spontaneous eye movements on a blank screen would follow a mental timeline during encoding, free recall, and recognition of past and future items. In all three stages of processing, gaze position was more rightward during future items compared to past items. Moreover, horizontal gaze position during encoding predicted horizontal gaze position during free recall and recognition. We conclude that mental time line and the stored gaze position during encoding assist memory retrieval of past versus future items. Our findings highlight the spatial nature of temporal representations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland. corinna.martarelli@psy.unibe.ch.|Center for Cognition, Learning and Memory, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. corinna.martarelli@psy.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Corinna S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Martarelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland.|Center for Cognition, Learning and Memory, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Fred W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Mast
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland.|Center for Cognition, Learning and Memory, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hartmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D013995:Time; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Encoding; Eye movements; Free recall; Mental time line; Recognition