Abstract
Previous research has shown that closing the eyes can facilitate recall of semantic and episodic information. Here, two experiments are presented which investigate the theoretical underpinnings of the eye-closure effect and its auditory equivalent, the “ear-closure” effect. In Experiment 1, participants viewed a violent videotaped event and were subsequently interviewed about the event with eyes open or eyes closed. Eye-closure was found to have modality-general benefits on coarse-grain correct responses, but modality-specific effects on fine-grain correct recall and incorrect recall (increasing the former and decreasing the latter). In Experiment 2, participants viewed the same event and were subsequently interviewed about it, either in quiet conditions or while hearing irrelevant speech. Contrary to expectations, irrelevant speech did not significantly impair recall performance. This null finding might be explained by the absence of social interaction during the interview in Experiment 2. In conclusion, eye-closure seems to involve both general and modality-specific processes. The practical implications of the findings are discussed.
Highlights
Previous research has shown that closing the eyes can facilitate recall of semantic and episodic information
A 2 (Interview Condition: quiet, irrelevant speech) x 2 (Question Modality: visual, auditory) mixed ANOVA on fine-grain correct recall revealed no significant effects of modality (F < 1) or interview condition, F (1, 54) = 1.61, p = .21, and no interaction between the two (F < 1)
We found evidence for an asymmetrical modality-specific interference effect of distractions in the interview environment
Summary
Previous research has shown that closing the eyes can facilitate recall of semantic and episodic information. When eyewitnesses close their eyes during an investigative interview, they remember more about a witnessed crime than when they keep their eyes open (Mastroberardino, Natali, & Candel, 2012; Perfect et al, 2008; Wagstaff et al, 2004). In one study of particular interest to the current paper, Baddeley and Andrade (2000) examined the role of modality-specific interference on cognitive processes involving long-term memory retrieval (i.e., mental imagery) They found that a concurrent visuospatial task (spatial tapping) interfered more with the vividness of visual imagery (e.g., “imagine the appearance of cows grazing”) than with the vividness of auditory imagery (e.g., “imagine the sound of a cat meowing”), whereas a concurrent auditory-verbal task (counting) interfered more with the vividness of auditory than visual imagery. These findings point to the possibility that distractions in the environment may disrupt retrieval from long-term memory in a modality-specific way
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