Serial visual presentations of images exist both in the laboratory and increasingly on virtual platforms such as social media feeds. However, the way we interact with information differs between these. In many laboratory experiments participants view stimuli passively, whereas on social media people tend to interact with information actively. This difference could influence the way information is remembered, which carries practical and theoretical implications. In the current study, 821 participants viewed streams containing seven landscape images that were presented at either a self-paced (active) or an automatic (passive) rate. Critically, the presentation speed in each automatic trial was matched to the speed of a self-paced trial for each participant. Both memory accuracy and memory confidence were greater on self-paced compared to automatic trials. These results indicate that active, self-paced progression through images increases the likelihood of them being remembered, relative to when participants have no control over presentation speed and duration.

图像的连续视觉呈现既存在于实验室中，也越来越多地存在于社交媒体等虚拟平台上。然而，我们与信息交互的方式在这些之间有所不同。在许多实验室实验中，参与者被动地观看刺激，而在社交媒体上，人们倾向于主动与信息互动。这种差异可能会影响信息的记忆方式，这具有实践和理论意义。在当前的研究中，821 名参与者观看了包含七张风景图像的流，这些图像以自定进度（主动）或自动（被动）速率呈现。至关重要的是，每个自动试验的演示速度与每个参与者自定进度试验的速度相匹配。与自动试验相比，自定进度的记忆准确度和记忆信心都更高。这些结果表明，相对于参与者无法控制演示速度和持续时间的情况，通过图像进行主动、自定进度的进展会增加记住图像的可能性。