External and internal attention: Mind the role of switches for memory functioning
Abstract
Attention continuously shifts between information arising from the external environment and internally generated representations such as thoughts and memories. Episodic memory retrieval provides a particularly relevant case in which attention must be redirected from ongoing perceptual processing toward internal memory representations. In this chapter, we examine this transition through the framework of the Attentional Switch to Memory (ASM), a construct proposed to describe the reorientation of attention from the external world toward the internal mental space supporting episodic memory retrieval. We review elements about the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying this switch and discuss how ASM may differ between strategic (i.e., voluntary) and involuntary memory retrieval. In strategic retrieval, the switch is proposed to occur early, following the establishment of the episodic retrieval mode and before controlled memory search. In involuntary retrieval, by contrast, the attentional shift may occur only after a memory representation has already been partially activated. We further discuss candidate behavioral and physiological markers of the ASM, with a particular focus on gaze aversion, eye movements, pupil dynamics, and changes of vergence. Together, these findings highlight attentional switching as a potentially critical but understudied component of episodic memory retrieval and provide directions for future research aimed at characterizing its temporal, cognitive, and neural dynamics.
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BibTeX
@misc{servais2026external,
title = {{External and internal attention: Mind the role of switches for memory functioning}},
author = {Anaïs Servais and Emmanuel Barbeau},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/kp8jt_v2},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/kp8jt_v2/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - External and internal attention: Mind the role of switches for memory functioning
AU - Anaïs Servais
AU - Emmanuel Barbeau
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/10
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/kp8jt_v2
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/kp8jt_v2/
AB - Attention continuously shifts between information arising from the external environment and internally generated representations such as thoughts and memories. Episodic memory retrieval provides a particularly relevant case in which attention must be redirected from ongoing perceptual processing toward internal memory representations. In this chapter, we examine this transition through the framework of the Attentional Switch to Memory (ASM), a construct proposed to describe the reorientation of attention from the external world toward the internal mental space supporting episodic memory retrieval. We review elements about the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying this switch and discuss how ASM may differ between strategic (i.e., voluntary) and involuntary memory retrieval. In strategic retrieval, the switch is proposed to occur early, following the establishment of the episodic retrieval mode and before controlled memory search. In involuntary retrieval, by contrast, the attentional shift may occur only after a memory representation has already been partially activated. We further discuss candidate behavioral and physiological markers of the ASM, with a particular focus on gaze aversion, eye movements, pupil dynamics, and changes of vergence. Together, these findings highlight attentional switching as a potentially critical but understudied component of episodic memory retrieval and provide directions for future research aimed at characterizing its temporal, cognitive, and neural dynamics.
ER -