Visual imagery and enactment of actions in memory

Bibliographic Data

ID5266950
AuthorsJohannes Engelkamp (Saarland University, corresponding author)
Year1995
Volume86
Issue2
Pages227-240
Publication date1995-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1269 • E-ISSN: 2044-8295
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.2044-8295.1995.tb02558.x
PMID7795943
OpenAlexW2124003854
LanguageEN
Citations received6

It was assumed that self-performing an action necessarily focuses information- processing on action-relevant information in order to guarantee smooth enactment. As a consequence, enacting an action should provide the subjects with excellent item-specific information and hinder the subjects from encoding contextual information that is not a part of the action proper. These hypotheses were tested in paired-associate learning experiments in which unrelated action-verb-pairs served as stimuli. Free recall (FR) of the action verbs was considered to indicate item- specific encoding, and cued recall (CR)-with one element of a pair serving as a cue for the other-to reflect context encoding. The verb-pairs were learned essentially under four types of instructions: under standard learning instructions (as a control), under enactment instructions, under self-imagery instructions, and under other- imagery instructions. The results demonstrated that enactment led to better FR than standard learning and the two imagery conditions, showing that enactment provides excellent item-specific information. CR was equally poor after overt enactment and self-imagined performance and worse after standard learning and after imagining somebody else performing an action, showing that motor encoding hinders pair integration-i.e. efficient context encoding

Action (physics) · Cognitive psychology · Context (archaeology) · Cued recall · Encoding (memory) · Free recall · Recall · Recall test · Verb · Action Observation and Synchronization · Artificial Intelligence · Communication · Computer Science · Memory Processes and Influences · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies · Psychology

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