Eye Movements & Forgetting

The eyes often give away what we can’t or won’t say. In this lab, we track eye movements to investigate the processes underlying forgetting. Eye movements are a sensitive marker of memory. They can reveal traces of a memory even when a person’s behavior suggests it’s been forgotten.

Not all forgetting is the same. Incidental forgetting happens despite our intention to remember, like forgetting to send an email, or forgetting a hotel room number, or where you placed your car keys. Intentional forgetting is different. It’s what happens when we actively work to down-regulate an unwanted memory, such as an embarrassing moment from a first date, or something traumatic we prefer not to think about.

Our research shows that eye movements are sensitive to this distinction, differentiating incidental from intentional forgetting in ways that parallel findings from our neural activity work. Sometimes, the eyes remember what the mind has let go of.