Chunking and consolidating processes during physical and observational practice

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Arnaud Boutin, Ph.D.; Professorin Dr. Cristina Massen, from 12/2011 until 7/2013
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: from 2012 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 209808509

• Final Report Year: 2017

Final Report Abstract

During this ANR-DFG project, I conducted with my German and French colleagues a series of 5 experiments. Altogether, we further our understanding on the consolidating mechanisms underlying the formation of motor chunks in long-term memory following physical and observational practice. We highlighted the dynamic and sensory-specific modulation of chunk processing during sensorimotor learning and provided evidence that modality-specific mechanisms underlie the hierarchical organization of sequence representations. Moreover, we showed for the first time that the ability to be consciously aware of our own motor capability and efficiency might influence chunk processing and skill consolidation, providing further directions for future research with awareness-based pathological populations and rehabilitation perspectives. My postdoctoral fellowship within a renowned German laboratory allowed me to improve my theoretical knowledge in the research field and to extend my technical competencies.

Publications

• (2013). Modality-specific organization in the representation of sensorimotor sequences. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 937.
  Boutin, A., Massen, C., & Heuer, H.
  
• (2013). Sensory-based mechanisms for motor chunking and learning. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology; NASPSPA 2013 Conference, New Orleans LA, USA, June 13-15, 2013
  Boutin, A., Massen, C., & Heuer, H.
  
• (2014). Action awareness shapes motor memory consolidation. Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness; ASSC 18 Conference, Brisbane, Australia, July 16-19, 2014
  Boutin, A., Heuer, H., & Badets, A.
  
• (2014). Conscious awareness of action potentiates sensorimotor learning. Cognition, 133, 1-9
  Boutin, A., Blandin, Y., Massen, C., Heuer, H., & Badets, A.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2014.05.012)
• (2014). Learning from errors: An EEG study. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology; NASPSPA 2014 Conference, Minneapolis MN, USA, June 12-14, 2014
  Boutin, A., Proteau, L., Ellemberg, D., & Blandin, Y.
  
• (2015). Mental representations of magnitude and order: A dissociation by sensorimotor learning. Acta Psychologica, 157, 164-175
  Badets, A., Boutin, A., & Heuer, H.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2015.03.004)