Attention modulates incidental memory encoding of human movements

Abstract

Attention has been shown to enhance the processing of task-relevant information while suppressing the processing of task-irrelevant information. However, it is less clear whether this attentional modulation exists when there is an intrinsic dependence between task-relevant and task-irrelevant information, such as the dependence of temporal processing on spatial information. In this study, we used complex whole-body movement sequences to investigate the extent to which the task-irrelevant spatial information (trajectory) is processed when only the temporal information (rhythm) is in focus. Moreover, we examined, if the task-irrelevant spatial information is “co-selected” with the target temporal information as predicted by the intrinsic spatiotemporal dependence, whether task-driven attention that is actively directed to spatial information provides extra benefits. Through a two-phase experiment (an incidental encoding phase followed by a surprise memory test phase), we found that the task-irrelevant spatial information was not only perceived but also encoded in memory, providing further evidence in support of a relatively automatic co-selection of spatial information in temporal processing. Nevertheless, we also found that movements whose trajectories were intentionally attended to during the encoding phase were recognized better in the test phase than those that were not, indicating a further modulation from attention on incidental memory encoding and information processing.

Incidental temporal binding in rats: A novel behavioral task

“…The behavioral response in the OTTER task is ecologically valid because it takes advantage of the natural behavioral tendencies of rodents. The OTTER task is also ecologically valid in relation to human incidental memory: recall in incidental memory tasks was reported to be 35%-90%, depending on the task [ 45 – 47 ]. We demonstrated that rats could utilize the knowledge acquired from a single experience and use it to their advantage in a different context: rats demonstrated the same behavior that resulted in the termination of the unpleasant stimulus they experienced 24 hours earlier.…”

Integration or separation? Spatial and temporal representations of whole-body movements in visual working memory

“…Twenty-four whole-body movement sequences (half performed by a female dancer and the other half performed by a male dancer, both in fitted black clothing), selected from the stimulus set of Chiou ( 2022a ), were used in the current study. No participants had viewed the movement sequences before.…”

“…1 1 Illustration of a whole-body movement sequence. Reprinted from Chiou ( 2022a ) (CC BY 4.0). Three sample video clips (A_2132, A_3212, B_3212) that illustrate movement sequences with different trajectories (A, B) and/or rhythms (2132, 3212) were published with the article Chiou ( 2022a ) and can be seen online: 10.1007/s10339-022-01078-1 …”

“…Participants performed a change-detection task (same/different judgment) with a procedure similar to Chiou ( 2022a ) under three conditions: (1) Temporal-only , in which participants were instructed to attend to the temporal information (“movement speed”) of the sample sequence and detect whether a temporal change occurred in the test sequence (Fig. 2a ).…”

“…One may suspect that the learning effect was due to insufficient practice before the formal experiment. However, based on our previous experience (e.g., Chiou, 2022aChiou, , 2022b, eight practice trials (with replay and feedback) should be sufficient for participants to understand and to perform the task properly. Moreover, in one of our previous studies (Chiou & Schack, 2023), participants performed a similar change-detection task under a dualprocessing condition for 288 trials (much more than the number of trials performed in the present study), but no learning effect was found across two experiments (N = 54 in total).…”