Abstract
The spatial working memory system constantly updates spatial representations and many studies have focused on the underlying principles of the encoding and maintenance of visual information. Here we investigated the question of how the production of actions influences spatial working memory. Participants were given a task that required concurrent maintenance of two spatial arrays, one encoded by visual observation accompanied with pointing movements, the other by only visual observation. Across two experiments, movement during encoding was found to facilitate recognition of spatial arrays in a load-dependent manner. The results suggest an action-based encoding principle within the working memory system, and possible underlying action-related mechanisms are discussed.
Article PDF
References
Allport, A. (1987). Selection for action: Some behavioral and neurophysiological considerations of attention and action. In H. Heuer & A. F. Sanders (Eds.),Perspectives on perception and action (pp. 395–419). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Allport, A. (1989). Visual attention. In M. I. Posner (Ed.),Foundations of cognitive sciences (pp. 631–782). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Allport, A. (1993). Attention and control: Have we been asking the wrong questions? A critical review of twenty-five years. In D. E. Meyer & S. Kornblum (Eds.),Attention and performance XIV (pp. 183–218). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Awh, E., Jonides, J., &Reuter-Lorenz, P. A. (1998). Rehearsal in spatial working memory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,24, 780–790.
Bekkering, H., &Neggers, F. S. W. (2002). Visual search is modulated by action intentions.Psychological Science,13, 370–374.
de Bruin, J. P. C., Moita, M. P., de Brabander, H. M., &Joosten, R. N. J. (2201). Place and response learning of rats in a Morris water maze: Differential effects of fimbria fornix and medial prefrontal cortex lesions.Neurobiology of Learning & Memory,75, 164–178.
De Leonibus, E., Lafenetre, P., Oliverio, A., &Mele, A. (2003). Pharmacological evidence of the role of dorsal striatum in spatial memory consolidation in mice.Behavioral Neuroscience,117, 685–694.
De Leonibus, E., Oliverio, A., &Mele, A. (2005). A study on the role of the dorsal striatum and the nucleus accumbens in allocentric and egocentric spatial memory consolidation.Learning & Memory,12, 491–503.
DiMattia, B. V., &Kesner, R. P. (1988). Spatial cognitive maps: Differential role of parietal cortex and hippocampal formation.Behavioral Neuroscience,102, 471–480.
Engelkamp, J. (1998).Memory for actions. Hove, U.K.: Psychology Press/Taylor & Francis.
Fischer, M. H., &Hoellen, N. (2004). Space- and object-based attention depend on motor intention.Journal of General Psychology,131, 365–377.
Hale, S., Myerson, J., Rhee, S. H., Weiss, C. S., &Abrams, R. A. (1996). Selective interference with the maintenance of location information in working memory.Neuropsychology,10, 228–240.
Hannus, A., Cornelissen, F. W., Lindemann, O., &Bekkering, H. (2005). Selection-for-action in visual search.Acta Psychologica,118, 171–179.
Hornstein, S. L., &Mulligan, N. W. (2001). Memory of action events: The role of objects in memory of self- and other-performed tasks.American Journal of Psychology,114, 199–217.
Kesner, R. P., Farnsworth, G., &DiMattia, B. V. (1989). Double dissociation of egocentric and allocentric space following medial prefrontal and parietal cortex lesions in the rat.Behavioral Neuroscience,103, 956–961.
Lawrence, B. M., Myerson, J., Oonk, H. M., &Abrams, R. A. (2001). The effects of eye and limb movements on working memory.Memory,9, 433–444.
Linnell, K. J., Humphreys, G. W., McIntyre, D. B., Laitinen, S., &Wing, A. M. (2005). Action modulates object-based selection.Vision Research,45, 2268–2286.
Luck, S. J., &Vogel, E. K. (1997). The capacity of visual working memory for features and conjunctions.Nature,390, 279–281.
Mohr, G., Engelkamp, J., &Zimmer, H. D. (1989). Recall and recognition of self-performed acts.Psychological Research,51, 181–187.
Saltz, E., &Donnenwerth-Nolan, S. (1981). Does motoric imagery facilitate memory for sentences? A selective interference test.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,20, 322–332.
Save, E., &Moghaddam, M. (1996). Effects of lesions of the associative parietal cortex on the acquisition and use of spatial memory in egocentric and allocentric navigation tasks in the rat.Behavioral neuroscience,110, 74–85.
Schneider, W. X. (1995). VAM: A neuro-cogitive model for visual attention control of segmentation, object recognition, and space-based motor action.Visual Cognition,2, 331–376.
Zimmer, H. D., &Engelkamp, J. (1985). An attempt to distinguish between kinematic and motor memory components.Acta Psychologica,58, 81–106.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to J.P.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chum, M., Bekkering, H., Dodd, M.D. et al. Motor and visual codes interact to facilitate visuospatial memory performance. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 14, 1189–1193 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193111
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193111