Specific-cue effects of interpolated movements on distance and location retention in short-term motor memory

Abstract

A short-term motor retention paradigm was used to examine the effect of interpolated movements on the recall of individual distance-and location-cue information. Subjects were instructed to learn either a distance or a location cue during the execution of simple, discrete original movements. Interpolated movements were then made which varied and repeated distance and location either individually or jointly. Changes in variable, absolute, and algebraic error from immediate to delayed recall were totally determined by interpolation of the individual instructed cue. No added recall changes were produced by interpolation of noninstructed cues. The data were interpreted as supporting the presence of a stimulus-selection process that dissociates kinesthetic information as a function of instructional set. The effects of interpolated movements, then, are determined partially by this selection process. This research represents a portion of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the PhD degree at New Mexico State University under the supervision of Gordon B. Harding. It was presented at the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association held in Chicago, May 1977. The author wishes to thank Evelyn Williams for her helpful suggestions and Vi Hagman for her clerical assistance. Requests for reprints should be sent to

Dissociating cognitive and motor interference effects on kinesthetic short-term memory

“…Studies, which tested how interpolated kinesthetic activity affects location vs. distance reproduction revealed that both reproduction modes can be selectively affected by a motor distractor but in different ways (Hagman, 1978;Laabs, 1974). The distance of the interpolated activity proved to be critical for distance reproduction, while the end locations of the distractor movements affected primarily location reproduction (see also Laabs & Simmons, 1981;Smyth, 1984).…”

Interpolated activities during the knowledge-of-results delay and post-knowledge-of-results interval: Effects on performance and learning.

“…This work typically involves the use of interpolated secondary movements that are found to affect recall performance of criterion positioning tasks. More specifically, recall of the criterion movement shifts in the direction of the interpolated movement (Burwitz, 1974;Craft, 1973;Craft & Hinrichs, 1971;Hagman, 1978;Hagman & Williams, 1977;Laabs, 1973Laabs, , 1974Laabs, , 1975Laabs & Simmons, 1981;Patrick, 1971;Pepper & Herman, 1970;Smyth, 1984;Stelmach, 1982;Stelmach & Kelso, 1975;Trumbo, Milone, & Noble, 1972).…”

Effects of Presentation- and Test-Trial Training on Motor Acquisition and Retention

“…Because both decay and interference have adversely affected retention of distance in the past, it is likely that both processes contributed to the withincycle error increases observed in the present experiment. One way to examine the effect of interference alone would be to perform the same experiment using a movement cue such as stopping location which is affected adversely by interference (Hagman, 1978) but not by decay (Laabs, 1973).…”