Visual Perspective in Memories for Events

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A staggering 93 million selfies (i.e., a self-portrait with a camera) are estimated to be taken worldwide each day. When we take selfies we inadvertently shift our visual perspective during conscious experience-seeing ourselves in the moment rather than directly experiencing it. Such shifts in our visual perspective are now ubiquitous due to advances in technology, such as Skype, video games, and immersive virtual reality. However, being in two places at once may be detrimental to how we form durable memories of our experiences. The current proposal will investigate how forming memories from multiple visual perspectives influences the characteristics and brain mechanisms that contribute to long-term memories for real-world events. This project will manipulate visual perspective while people form memories for three-dimensional, 360° videos of real-world events that are presented using an immersive virtual reality headset. It will then test how forming memories from multiple visual perspectives influences subjective ratings and the accuracy of memories, and the associated brain regions that support the formation of memories. Completion of the project will significantly advance memory theory by providing a full picture of the origin of visual perspective in memories. The results from this basic research will provide findings that may help to resolve debate regarding visual perspective impairments in mental health in the future. More widely, understanding the mechanisms underpinning visual perspective in memory might lead to positive change in societal issues (e.g., conflict, stereotypes, race relations, and empathy) by offering a new way to understand the world through adopting an alternative visual perspective.