The role of the motor system in the retention of information

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The capacity to retain the order of events is central to most of our everyday activities. Several studies aimed at investigating serial memory used the serial recall task in which participants are presented with series of items (e.g., digits) and asked to recall them in the same order they were presented. Some models suggest that the retention of serial information depends on the perceptual and motor systems (the perceptual-gestural view; Jones, Hughes, & Macken, 2006). For instance, when participants try to retain series of digits in a specific order, they would build up a plan comprising an arrangement of articulatory gestures, just as they do when they want to talk (Woodward, Macken, & Jones, 2008). The role of the motor system in retention however, has proved very difficult to test because the underlying processes are not well specified. The goal of this research program is to define the processes that are involved in retention by examining the role of the different motor systems (e.g., eye movements) in retention. In order to do this, I will use a serial recall paradigm in which participants will be asked to memorise complex natural objects. These stimuli are selected because they afford several motor actions. I will therefore manipulate various motor characteristics of the objects (e.g., how they can be seized or manipulated) and the motor systems recruited during retention. For instance, I will manipulate the similarity between the motor actions afforded by the objects and examine the effect on recall performance. The project will allow investigating what motor skills are used during retention and whether retention involves specific skills or general motor processes shared by several skills. The present research program will allow developing the perceptual-gestural view of memory and to test it against other models of memory.