Sensory Systems and Eye Movement Patterns

Brief, unconscious movements of the eyes in various directions reveal from which representational system information is currently being retrieved. The following chart applies to most normally organized right-handers. For left-handers, the sides may be reversed.

Note: This pattern is a generalization and naturally does not always apply. Therefore, always calibrate!

Examples of Questions to Elicit Eye Access Cues:

Eye access cues are the most easily observable indicators for an external observer.

Questions to evoke visually constructed images:

• Can you imagine a purple cow?
• If you wanted to repaint your room, what color would you choose?
• Can you imagine how you’d look if you lost 5 kilograms?
• Imagine an elephant on a cloud. Hanging from the cloud is a parasol, and on it is a black-and-white checkered mouse wearing roller skates.
• How will you look when you’re 80 years old?
• Picture the top half of a sphere resting on a cube.
• How would you look with green hair?
• Imagine the German flag, but in yellow, brown, and pink.

Questions to evoke visually remembered images:

• What color are your mother’s eyes?
• What color was your first car?
• When did you first meet your current partner?
• What color is the carpet in your bedroom?
• How many doors are in your home or apartment?
• How many windows are in your home or apartment?
• Who was the first person you saw today?
• What does the face of your alarm clock look like?

Questions to evoke auditory memory:

• Think of your favorite song and hum it in your head.
• Remember the conversation with the last person you spoke to yesterday.
• Try to hear the sound of your car’s engine in your mind.
• Try to hear the difference between your doorbell and your phone ring.
• Which familiar voice do you find most unpleasant?
• Which voice do you enjoy hearing the most?

Questions to evoke auditory construction:

• What would a bagpipe sound like playing the national anthem backward?
• What would thunder sound like slowly turning into harp music?
• What would it sound like if an entire football stadium sang your name?
• Compose a song in your mind right now.

Questions to evoke kinesthetic access cues:

• Imagine what hot sand on the beach feels like.
• Remember how your first kiss felt.
• Recall the last time you had to brake suddenly.
• When you’re feeling sad or down, what can cheer you up the fastest?
• How does it feel to jump into cold water with a heated body?
• What does a mosquito bite feel like?
• What does a small stone in your shoe feel like?

Questions to evoke olfactory/gustatory access (watch for movements of mouth and nose):

• What does a lemon taste like?
• What does a rose smell like?

Inner Dialogue:

• What rhymes with “cup”?
• What letter follows “O” in the alphabet?
• Formulate a letter in your mind!
• Say a few encouraging words to yourself internally.