Working memory is a limited-capacity system that enables us to temporarily maintain and manipulate information. A key function of working memory is the representation of serial order, which is essential for language comprehension, reasoning, and decision-making. According to the mental whiteboard hypothesis, sequence items are organized within an internal spatial representation shaped by cultural experiences such as reading direction. This project investigates horizontal and vertical eye movements during verbal working memory tasks to test this hypothesis.
Working memory refers to a limited-capacity system that enables us to temporarily maintain and manipulate information, providing a fundamental basis for human cognition. A key function of working memory is the representation of serial order: keeping track of what came before and relating it to what follows is essential for language comprehension, reasoning, and decision-making. Several theoretical models have been proposed to explain how serial order is represented in working memory. One of the most influential accounts suggests that sequence items are organized within an internal spatial representation—a “mental whiteboard”—whose orientation is shaped by cultural experiences such as reading and writing direction. This project further examines this hypothesis by investigating horizontal and vertical eye movements elicited during the retrieval of serial order information from verbal working memory. Our findings support the mental whiteboard hypothesis, indicating that serial positions are flexibly mapped onto an internal spatial representation depending on task demands.
Publication in peer-reviewed journal
- Abrahamse, E., van Dijck, J. P., & Hartmann, M. (2026). 2D mental whiteboards: Multidimensional spatial coding of serial order in verbal working memory. Psychological Research, 90(3), 99, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00426-026-02267-9
- Hartmann, M., Martarelli, C. S., & Sommer, N. R. (2021). Early is left and up: Saccadic responses reveal horizontal and vertical spatial associations of serial order in working memory. Cognition, 217, 104908, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027721003310
Dataset
