Fixations durations on familiar items are longer due to attenuation of exploration

Previous studies have shown that fixations on familiar stimuli tend to be longer than on unfamiliar stimuli, putatively due to ongoing retrieval of memory about familiar stimuli. Here, we hypothesized that extended fixations are in fact due to a lesser need to explore an already familiar stimulus. Participants gaze was tracked as they tried to encode or retrieve a familiar face displayed either alone or alongside other unfamiliar faces. Regardless of the memory task (encoding\retrieval), longer fixation durations were observed when a single familiar face was presented alone, and not when presented among unfamiliar ones. Thus, fixations were not prolonged when it was possible to explore other, unfamiliar stimuli. We conclude that prolonged fixations on familiar stimuli reflect a lesser need to explore an already familiar percept. The results underscore how memory representations influence active sensing, yielding fresh insights into efficient deployment of attention resources.