Traditionally, memory research has focused on generalising the processes underlying our ability to remember and distinguishing between the different forms of memory. However, our understanding of vision has also guided research towards the nature, structure and format of the representations used in these processes (Konkle et al., 2011). Several studies have revealed that category-level information, i.e., gist, alone cannot account for our long-term memory for visual scenes and that idiosyncratic details also play a role (Konkle et al., 2010; Evans & Baddeley, 2018). Recent work from our lab has shown that this component of long-term visual memory can be suitably operationalised by visual complexity (Kyle-Davidson, Solis*, et al., 2025) such that more complex images tend to be more memorable, a result that has also be observed by others (e.g., Saraee et al., 2020). Human perception of visual complexity is, in itself, difficult to define and operationalise: there are many advantages to quantifying the complexity of an image computationally, but these often fall short of fully capturing what affords humans this perception (though see Kyle-Davidson et al., 2023).
The current project, thus, aims to investigate further the relationship between the visual complexity and memorability of images. Understanding this relationship, including their neural correlates and temporal dynamics, will give us an insight into the mechanisms underlying our long-term visual memory, which we tend to take for granted in our everyday lives.
Coming soon.