When exploration replaces storage: how eye movements shape visual working memory

Visual working memory (VWM) is traditionally studied while constraining eye movements and limiting access to visual input, yet in natural vision humans constantly explore and resample their environment. Only a few studies have examined VWM utilization when participants were allowed to interact with the environment and found that participants often preferred to resample their environment rather than rely on VWM storage. However, since eye movements were not controlled in these studies, the link between VWM utilization and free visual exploration remained unknown. In two experiments (N = 40), we investigated how visual exploration shapes reliance on VWM versus perceptual input. Participants searched for a common target across two item sets and could either store multiple items for comparison or repeatedly resample the sets by switching between them. Results revealed that when switching was achieved through eye movements, participants consistently relied more on visual resampling and less on VWM; in contrast, when switching required a manual response, they shifted toward greater VWM use. This pattern persisted even when peripheral input was equated, suggesting that natural exploration through eye movements reduces the cognitive cost of acquiring visual information, leading to a strategic reduction in VWM use. Our findings challenge fixation-based approaches to VWM research and highlight the importance of studying cognition under ecological viewing conditions.