title: The influence of action on episodic memory: a virtual reality study.
abstract: A range of empirical findings suggest that active learning is important for memory. However, few studies have focused on the mechanisms underlying this enactment effect in episodic memory using complex environments. Research using virtual reality has yielded inconsistent results. We postulated that the effect of action depends on the degree of interaction with the environment and freedom in the planning of an itinerary. To test these hypotheses, we disentangled the interaction and planning components of action to investigate whether each enhances factual and spatial memory. Seventy-two participants (36 male and 36 female) explored a virtual town in one of three experimental conditions: (a) a passive condition where participants were immersed as passenger of the car (no interaction, no planning); (b) a planning-only condition (the subject chose the itinerary but did not drive the car); (c) an interaction-only condition (the subject drove the car but the itinerary was fixed). We found that itinerary choice and motor control both enhanced spatial memory, while factual memory was impaired by online motor control. The role of action in memory is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mémoire et Cognition, Institut de Psychologie, Université Paris Descartes, Boulogne-Billancourt, France. pascale.piolino@parisdescartes.fr
authors.forename: Gaën
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Plancher
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barra
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orriols
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Piolino
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011936:Reality Testing; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult