Inhibition of motor sequences in memory

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Tobias Tempel
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: since 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 251803628

We closely follow up the so-far conducted studies within this research project. Manifold evidence suggested that a cognitive inhibition mechanism resolves interference triggered by retrieval also in motor memory and, thus, causes retrieval-induced forgetting. Predictions from three out of the four postulate of the inhibition theory by Anderson (2003) have been met. The fourth postulate could not be tested sufficiently yet. The present project phase will focus it again, therefore. In particular, we will test whether retrieval-induced forgetting occurs independently from the kind of access within a specific memory test. For this purpose, an indirect test format will be used that does not involve directed access in the sense of a targeted search for memory contents. Additionally, associations of the motoric memory representations of interest with different stimuli during encoding and their presentation during retrieval will be manipulated. This examines whether retrieval-induced forgetting and the apparently underlying inhibitory mechanism depend on available cues at retrieval. We will also examine as to how retrieval dynamics occurring during selective retrieval of verbal information may differ from retrieval dynamics regarding motor programs. For this purpose, word stimuli will be associated with motor sequences and retrieval affordances of selective retrieval practice will be manipulated. We expect evidence about the way inhibition arising as a consequence of selective retrieval differs in motor memory, in particular, whether intra-item associations, entire multimodal item representations or motor programs as item features become inhibited.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants