title: Object affordance influences instruction span.
abstract: We measured memory span for assembly instructions involving objects with handles oriented to the left or right side. Right-handed participants remembered more instructions when objects' handles were spatially congruent with the hand used in forthcoming assembly actions. No such affordance-based memory benefit was found for left-handed participants. These results are discussed in terms of motor simulation as an embodied rehearsal mechanism.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK. japel@uni-wuppertal.de
authors.forename: Jens K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Apel
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cangelosi
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goslin
authors.forename: Martin H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006225:Hand / Q000294:innervation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult