05. Memory for Scenes

Online

Discovering how scenes are structured in one’s memory is crucial for understanding event memory. Not only can this add to our understanding of how we remember everyday events, but also topics such as the reliability of eyewitness accounts during criminal investigations. The primary focus of this research is to study the direct binding of objects in the context of scenes and the role of attention in binding. Specifically, the study examines whether objects bind together in memory and to the scene itself or if the scene affects direct binding between these objects. During the experiment, participants use a computer to view a room that contains various objects. While the scene is being shown the participant’s attention is drawn to different objects around the room by a visual cue. The room also contains unattended objects which allows evaluation of the difference in memory for attended and unattended objects. After viewing the scene, the participant is shown a picture of an object and asked to indicate whether they saw the item in the scene. In a separate phase of the experiment, an object is shown along with a blank section of the screen, an attended object, or an unattended object to test the participant’s memory of attended objects when paired with different cues. Current results indicate that memory for attended objects is significantly better than unattended objects. While evidence for direct binding has not yet been found, this may become evident as the sample size continues to increase.