Sensory factors in memory for subject-performed tasks

Abstract Action phrases such as “lift the pen” are recalled better when they are enacted by subjects in subject-performed tasks (SPTs) than when only listened to during verbal tasks (VTs). This SPT effect is usually attributed to the good item-specific information provided by enactment. A series of experiments investigated what role the use of real objects and the perception of the action play in the good recall of SPTs. For this purpose, recall of action phrases with and without using real objects was studied in VTs, EPTs (experimenter-performed tasks) and SPTs. It was found that the perception of real objects improved recall equally in EPTs and SPTs, but more so in VTs. Furthermore there was a recall advantage of SPTs over EPTs. However, with short lists, this advantage depended on whether the encoding condition was varied within subjects or between subjects. It was concluded that perceiving the objects used as well as perceiving the action proper does not play a decisive role in the good SPT recall. It was further concluded that EPTs and SPTs differentially depend on item-specific and relational encoding, and that relational encoding suffers from using a within-subjects mixed list design.

[1]  D. J. Burns,et al.  The consequences of generation , 1992 .

[2]  Mark A. McDaniel,et al.  A contextual account of the generation effect: A three-factor theory ☆ , 1988 .

[3]  D. F. Marks,et al.  Topographical distribution of EEG activity accompanying visual and motor imagery in vivid and non-vivid imagers. , 1995, British journal of psychology.

[4]  M. Dick,et al.  Memory for action events in Alzheimer-type dementia: Further evidence of an encoding failure , 1989, Brain and Cognition.

[5]  L. Nyberg,et al.  The effect of retrieval enactment on recall of subject-performed tasks and verbal tasks , 1994, Memory & cognition.

[6]  N. Mai,et al.  Selective disturbance of movement vision after bilateral brain damage. , 1983, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[7]  J. S. Nairne,et al.  Dissociative effects of generation on item and order retention. , 1991, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[8]  R. L. Cohen,et al.  The effect of encoding variables on the free recall of words and action events , 1983, Memory & cognition.

[9]  H. Heuer,et al.  Generation and modulation of action patterns , 1986 .

[10]  Robert A. Bjork,et al.  The Generation Effect: Support for a Two-Factor Theory , 1988 .

[11]  Mark A. McDaniel,et al.  Imagery and Cognition , 1991 .

[12]  R. L. Cohen,et al.  On the generality of some memory laws , 1981 .

[13]  T. Helstrup.  Loci for act recall: Contextual influence on the processing of action events , 1989, Psychological research.

[14]  R. L. Cohen,et al.  Interevent differences in event memory: Why are some events more recallable than others? , 1987, Memory & cognition.

[15]  L. Bäckman,et al.  New evidence on the nature of the encoding of action events , 1986, Memory & cognition.

[16]  Leslie G. Ungerleider,et al.  Object vision and spatial vision: two cortical pathways , 1983, Trends in Neurosciences.

[17]  M. McDaniel,et al.  Distinctiveness and the Mnemonic Benefits of Bizarre Imagery , 1987 .

[18]  R. Nickerson,et al.  SHORT-TERM MEMORY FOR COMPLEX MEANINGFUL VISUAL CONFIGURATIONS: A DEMONSTRATION OF CAPACITY. , 1965, Canadian journal of psychology.

[19]  J. Engelkamp,et al.  Bizarreness effects in verbal tasks and subject-performed tasks , 1993 .

[20]  J. Engelkamp.  Organisation and Recall in Verbal Tasks and in Subject-performed Tasks , 1996 .

[21]  N. J. Slamecka,et al.  The generation effect as an artifact of selective displaced rehearsal. , 1987 .

[22]  The effects of movements on caudate sensory responses , 1989, Neuroscience Letters.

[23]  Don L. Scarborough,et al.  Accessing lexical memory: The transfer of word repetition effects across task and modality , 1979 .

[24]  I. Begg.  Imagery and organization in memory: Instructional effects , 1978 .

[25]  Suzanne Donnenwerth-Nolan,et al.  Does motoric imagery facilitate memory for sentences? A selective interference test , 1981 .

[26]  L. Nyberg,et al.  A component analysis of action events , 1991 .

[27]  Johannes Engelkamp,et al.  Nouns and verbs in paired-associate learning: Instructional effects , 1986 .

[28]  Hubert D. Zimmer,et al.  Does motor encoding enhance relational information? , 1989 .

[29]  R. L. Cohen.  Memory for action events: The power of enactment , 1989 .

[30]  M. Wiesendanger.  Initiation of Voluntary Movements and the Supplementary Motor Area , 1986 .

[31]  R. L. Cohen,et al.  Memory in educable mentally retarded adults: deficit in subject or experimenter? , 1983 .

[32]  M. Norris,et al.  Age differences in the recall of actions and cognitive activities: The effects of presentation rate and object cues , 1991, Psychological research.

[33]  J. S. Nairne,et al.  Design controversies and the generation effect: Support for an item-order hypothesis , 1993, Memory & cognition.

[34]  Hubert D. Zimmer,et al.  Recall and recognition of self-performed acts , 1989 .

[35]  J Engelkamp,et al.  Visual imagery and enactment of actions in memory. , 1995, British journal of psychology.

[36]  L. Bäckman,et al.  Encoding dimensions of subject-performed tasks , 1991 .

[37]  Hubert D. Zimmer,et al.  Pair-relational encoding of performed nouns and verbs , 1991 .

[38]  J. Engelkamp.  Memory of Action Events: Some Implications for Memory Theory and for Imagery , 1991 .

[39]  J Engelkamp,et al.  An attempt to distinguish between kinematic and motor memory components. , 1985, Acta psychologica.

[40]  M. Knopf.  Having shaved a kiwi fruit: Memory of unfamiliar subject-performed actions , 1991 .