Tests of the Duomemory Notion for Movement Information

Abstract

The validity of the duomemory notion (i.e., the concept of two separate memory systems, one for recently presented events and another for learned acts) for motor behavior was tested in an experiment which sought to determine the extent to which interference differentially influenced the recall of a movement when it is initially experienced and after it is repeatedly practiced. Using a traditional linear-positioning task, subjects moved to five defined target locations on each trial and after a retention interval attempted to recall the targets in reverse order. One location was repeated on each of 10 trials while the others were always different. Control subjects were presented and recalled only the repeated criterion location on each trial. The results indicated (a) a constant superiority of criterion recall accuracy for the control condition throughout the 10 trials and (b) an absence of improvement over practice by the experimental group in the recall of the criterion location relative to that of nonrepeated targets. The findings were interpreted as a lack of support for the duomemory notion, and the exploration of an alternative framework (Craik & Lockhart, 1972) for the investigation of memory for movement information was suggested.