While previous research has demonstrated that gaze position can increase the accessibility of previous memories when reconstructing the past (Johansson & Johansson, 2014), the present study tested whether such gaze behavior can assist in selecting target memories in the face of competing memories. An adapted retrieval practice paradigm was used, where participants were engaged in selective retrieval while looking at locations that overlapped with the encoding location of either the target item or the competing item. Replicating previous findings, we show that encoding-retrieval compatibility in gaze positions increases the likelihood of successful remembering. We furthermore provide novel evidence that looking at locations where competing items were encoded during retrieval practice induces forgetting of the competitors during subsequent tests of memory. Corroborating evidence from changes in pupil size suggests that such gaze induced forgetting is modulated by the increased demands to successfully resolve interference from competing memories. This study represents the first demonstration that gaze position can both up- and downregulate memory accessibility during competitive memory retrieval and offers novel insights into the underlying dynamics.

中文翻译：

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注视位置在竞争性存储器检索过程中调节存储器的可访问性。

尽管先前的研究表明凝视位置可以在重建过去时增加先前记忆的可及性（Johansson＆Johansson，2014），但本研究测试了这种凝视行为是否可以帮助面对竞争性记忆选择目标记忆。使用了一种适应性检索实践范例，其中参与者参与选择性检索，同时查看与目标项目或竞争项目的编码位置重叠的位置。复制以前的发现，我们表明凝视位置的编码检索兼容性增加了成功记忆的可能性。我们还提供了新颖的证据，即在检索练习中查看竞争项目编码的位置会导致在随后的记忆测试中忘记竞争者。来自瞳孔大小变化的确凿证据表明，这种注视诱发的遗忘是由成功解决竞争性记忆干扰的需求增加所调节的。这项研究代表了第一个证明，即凝视位置可以在竞争性记忆检索过程中上调和下调记忆的可访问性，并为潜在的动力学提供新颖的见解。