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

Abstract

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 both 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.