Abstract
Observation is known to improve memory for action. Previous findings linked such an effect with an easier relation processing of action components following observation compared to mere sentence reading. However, action observation also elicits implicit motor simulation, that is a processing of one’s movement through the observer own motor system. We aimed to assess whether encoding of implicit motor simulation can also explain why observation is better than reading for action memory. To prevent influence of item relation processing, two studies about isolated action verbs learning were designed. In Experiment 1, action verbs were encoded with short videos of point-light human movements or with written definitions. Subsequent free recall indicated better memory for the verbs within the video clip condition. Experiment 2 compared two encoding conditions based on point-light human movement videos. Half of the verbs were learned with their normal corresponding movement (biological kinematic). For the other half of the verbs, the velocity of point-light movements was modified to create abnormal nonbiological kinematic actions. We observed better free recall for the verbs learned with biological kinematics. Taken together, those results suggest that action observation is beneficial because it allows the encoding of motor-related information (implicit motor simulation). Semantic resonance between linguistic and motor representations of action could also contribute to memory improvement. Contrary to previous studies, our results cannot be explained by an improvement of items relation processing. However, it suggests that the basic level of action verb memory is sensorimotor perception, such as implicit motor simulation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Avenanti, A., Candidi, M., & Urgesi, C. (2013). Vicarious motor activation during action perception: Beyond correlational evidence. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00185
Bäckman, L., Nilsson, L.-G., & Chalom, D. (1986). New evidence on the nature of the encoding of action events. Memory & Cognition, 14(4), 339–346. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202512
Badets, A., Bidet-Ildei, C., & Pesenti, M. (2015). Influence of biological kinematics on abstract concept processing. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 68(3), 608–618. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2014.964737
Barsalou, L. W. (1999). Perceptual symbol systems. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22(4), 577–609. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x99002149
Barsalou, L. W. (2008). Grounded cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 59(1), 617–645. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093639
Beauprez, S.-A., & Bidet-Ildei, C. (2018). The kinematics, not the orientation, of an action influences language processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 44(11), 1712–1726. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000568
Beauprez, S.-A., & Bidet-Ildei, C. (2019). Perceiving a biological human movement facilitates action verb processing. Current Psychology, 38(5), 1355–1359. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9694-5
Bidet-Ildei, C., Beauprez, S.-A., & Badets, A. (2020). A review of literature on the link between action observation and action language: Advancing a shared semantic theory. New Ideas in Psychology, 58, 100777. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2019.100777
Bidet-Ildei, C., & Toussaint, L. (2015). Are judgments for action verbs and point-light human actions equivalent? Cognitive Processing, 16(1), 57–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-014-0634-0
Blake, R., & Shiffrar, M. (2007). Perception of human motion. Annual Review of Psychology, 58(1), 47–73. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190152
Bouquet, C. A., Gaurier, V., Shipley, T., Toussaint, L., & Blandin, Y. (2007). Influence of the perception of biological or non-biological motion on movement execution. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25(5), 519–530. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410600946803
Briglia, J., Servajean, P., Michalland, A.-H., Brunel, L., & Brouillet, D. (2018). Modeling an enactivist multiple-trace memory. ATHENA: A fractal model of human memory. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 82, 97–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmp.2017.12.002
Brunel, L., Goldstone, R. L., Vallet, G., Riou, B., & Versace, R. (2013). When seeing a dog activates the bark. Experimental Psychology, 60(2), 100–112. https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000176
Brunel, L., Labeye, E., Lesourd, M., & Versace, R. (2009). The sensory nature of episodic memory: Sensory priming effects due to memory trace activation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35(4), 1081–1088. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015537
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Cohen, R. L. (1981). On the generality of some memory laws. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 22(1), 267–281. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.1981.tb00402.x
Cortese, M. J., Khanna, M. M., & Nordheim, D. V. (2019). Incidental memory for colour word associates processed in colour naming and reading aloud tasks: Is a blue ocean more memorable than a yellow one? Memory, 27(7), 924–930. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2019.1607877
Cracco, E., Bardi, L., Desmet, C., Genschow, O., Rigoni, D., De Coster, L., Radkova, I., Deschrijver, E., & Brass, M. (2018). Automatic imitation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 144(5), 453–500. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000143
Danker, J. F., & Anderson, J. R. (2010). The ghosts of brain states past: Remembering reactivates the brain regions engaged during encoding. Psychological Bulletin, 136(1), 87–102. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017937
De Vega, M., Dutriaux, L., Moreno, I. Z., García-Marco, E., Seigneuric, A., & Gyselinck, V. (2021). Crossing hands behind your back reduces recall of manual action sentences and alters brain dynamics. Cortex. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2021.03.016
Decatoire, A., Beauprez, S.-A., Pylouster, J., Lacouture, P., Blandin, Y., & Bidet-Ildei, C. (2019). PLAViMoP: How to standardize and simplify the use of point-light displays. Behavior Research Methods, 51(6), 2573–2596. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-018-1112-x
Dutriaux, L., & Gyselinck, V. (2016). Learning is better with the hands free: the role of posture in the memory of manipulable objects. PLoS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159108
Dutriaux, L., Nicolas, S., & Gyselinck, V. (2019). Aging and posture in the memory of manipulable objects. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2019.1708252
Engelkamp, J. (2001). Action memory: A system-oriented approach. In H. D. Zimmer, R. Cohen, M. Guynn, J. Engelkamp, R. Kormi-Nouri, & M. A. Foley (Eds.), Memory for action: A disctinct form of episodic memory? (pp. 49–96). Oxford Press.
Engelkamp, J., & Dehn, D. M. (2000). Item and order information in subject-performed tasks and experimenter-performed tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26(3), 671–682. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.26.3.671
Engelkamp, J., & Krumnacker, H. (1980). Image- and motor-processes in the retention of verbal materials. Zeitschrift Für Experimentelle Und Angewandte Psychologie, 27(4), 511–533.
Engelkamp, J., & Zimmer, H. D. (1984). Motor programme information as a separable memory unit. Psychological Research Psychologische Forschung, 46(3), 283–299. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00308889
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193146
Feyereisen, P. (2009). Enactment effects and integration processes in younger and older adults’ memory for actions. Memory, 17(4), 374–385. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658210902731851
Gallese, V., & Lakoff, G. (2005). The Brain’s concepts: The role of the Sensory-motor system in conceptual knowledge. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 22(3), 455–479. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643290442000310
Grèzes, J., & Decety, J. (2001). Functional anatomy of execution, mental simulation, observation, and verb generation of actions: A meta-analysis. Human Brain Mapping, 12(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0193(200101)12:1%3c1::AID-HBM10%3e3.0.CO;2-V
Hainselin, M., Picard, L., Manolli, P., Vankerkore-Candas, S., & Bourdin, B. (2017). Hey teacher, don’t leave them kids alone: Action is better for memory than reading. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00325
Hardwick, R. M., Caspers, S., Eickhoff, S. B., & Swinnen, S. P. (2018). Neural correlates of action: Comparing meta-analyses of imagery, observation, and execution. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 94, 31–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.08.003
Hauk, O., Johnsrude, I., & Pulvermüller, F. (2004). Somatotopic representation of action words in human motor and premotor cortex. Neuron, 41(2), 301–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0896-6273(03)00838-9
Hintzman, D. L. (1984). MINERVA 2: A simulation model of human memory. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 16(2), 96–101. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202365
Hintzman, D. L. (1986). “Schema abstraction” in a multiple-trace memory model. Psychological Review, 93(4), 411–428. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.93.4.411
Hommel, B., Müsseler, J., Aschersleben, G., & Prinz, W. (2001). The theory of event coding (TEC): A framework for perception and action planning. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(5), 849–878. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X01000103
Hunt, R. R., & Worthen, J. B. (Eds.). (2006). Distinctiveness and memory. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195169669.001.0001
James, W. (1890). The principles of psychology. H. Holt and Co.
Jeannerod, M. (2001). Neural simulation of action: A unifying mechanism for motor cognition. NeuroImage, 14(1 Pt 2), S103-109. https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.2001.0832
Jirak, D., Menz, M. M., Buccino, G., Borghi, A. M., & Binkofski, F. (2010). Grasping language: A short story on embodiment. Consciousness and Cognition, 19(3), 711–720. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2010.06.020
Johansson, G. (1973). Visual perception of biological motion and a model for its analysis. Perception & Psychophysics, 14(2), 201–211. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212378
Koriat, A., & Pearlman-Avnion, S. (2003). Memory organization of action events and its relationship to memory performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 132(3), 435–454. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.132.3.435
Kormi-Nouri, R., & Nilson, L.-G. (2001). The motor component is not crucial! In H. D. Zimmer, R. L. Cohen, M. J. Guynn, J. Engelkamp, R. Kormi-Nouri, & M. A. Foleys (Eds.), Memory for action: A distinct form of episodic memory? (pp. 97–111). Oxford University Press.
Kubik, V., Obermeyer, S., Meier, J., & Knopf, M. (2014). The enactment effect in a multi-trial free-recall paradigm. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 26(7), 781–787. https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2014.959018
Mahon, B. Z., & Caramazza, A. (2008). A critical look at the embodied cognition hypothesis and a new proposal for grounding conceptual content. Journal of Physiology-Paris, 102(1), 59–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphysparis.2008.03.004
Martel, L., Bidet-Ildei, C., & Coello, Y. (2011). Anticipating the terminal position of an observed action: Effect of kinematic, structural, and identity information. Visual Cognition, 19(6), 785–798. https://doi.org/10.1080/13506285.2011.587847
Masson, M. E. J., Bub, D. N., & Warren, C. M. (2008). Kicking calculators: Contribution of embodied representations to sentence comprehension. Journal of Memory and Language, 59(3), 256–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2008.05.003
Mazzuca, C., Fini, C., Michalland, A. H., Falcinelli, I., Da Rold, F., Tummolini, L., & Borghi, A. M. (2021). From affordances to abstract words: The flexibility of sensorimotor grounding. Brain Sciences, 11(10), 1304.
Meteyard, L., Cuadrado, S. R., Bahrami, B., & Vigliocco, G. (2012). Coming of age: A review of embodiment and the neuroscience of semantics. Cortex, 48(7), 788–804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2010.11.002
Morey, R. D., Kaschak, M. P., Díez-Álamo, A. M., Glenberg, A. M., Zwaan, R. A., Lakens, D., Ibáñez, A., García, A., Gianelli, C., Jones, J. L., Madden, J., Alifano, F., Bergen, B., Bloxsom, N. G., Bub, D. N., Cai, Z. G., Chartier, C. R., Chatterjee, A., Conwell, E., & Ziv-Crispel, N. (2021). A pre-registered, multi-lab non-replication of the action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE). Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-021-01927-8
New, B., Pallier, C., Ferrand, L., & Matos, R. (2001). Une base de données lexicales du français contemporain sur internet: LEXIQUE™//A lexical database for contemporary French: LEXIQUE™. L’année Psychologique, 101(3), 447–462. https://doi.org/10.3406/psy.2001.1341
Nilsson, L. G. (2000). Remembering actions and words. In E. Tulving & F. I. M. Craik (Eds.), The oxford handbook of memory (pp. 137–148). Oxford University Press.
Paivio, A. (1971). Imagery and verbal processes. Holt.
Pavlova, M. A. (2012). Biological motion processing as a hallmark of social cognition. Cerebral Cortex, 22(5), 981–995. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhr156
Pulvermüller, F. (1999). Words in the brain’s language. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22(2), 253–279. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X9900182X
Pulvermüller, F. (2010). Brain embodiment of syntax and grammar: Discrete combinatorial mechanisms spelt out in neuronal circuits. Brain and Language, 112(3), 167–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2009.08.002
Rey, A. E., Vallet, G. T., Riou, B., Lesourd, M., & Versace, R. (2015). Memory plays tricks on me: Perceptual bias induced by memory reactivated size in Ebbinghaus illusion. Acta Psychologica, 161, 104–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2015.08.011
Rizzolatti, G., & Sinigaglia, C. (2016). The mirror mechanism: A basic principle of brain function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 17(12), 757–765. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2016.135
Saltz, E., & Donnenwerth-Nolan, S. (1981). Does motoric imagery facilitate memory for sentences? A selective interference test. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 20(3), 322–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(81)90472-2
Schmidt, S. R. (1991). Can we have a distinctive theory of memory? Memory & Cognition, 19(6), 523–542. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197149
Schult, J., von Stülpnagel, R., & Steffens, M. C. (2014). Enactment versus observation: Item-specific and relational processing in goal-directed action sequences (and Lists of Single Actions). PLoS One, 9(6), e99985. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0099985
Steffens, M. C. (2007). Memory for goal-directed sequences of actions: Is doing better than seeing? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14(6), 1194–1198. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193112
Steffens, M. C., von Stülpnagel, R., & Schult, J. C. (2015). Memory recall after “learning by doing” and “learning by viewing”: Boundary conditions of an enactment benefit. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01907
Tomasino, B., & Gremese, M. (2016). The cognitive side of M1. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00298
Tulving, E. (2001). Episodic memory and common sense: How far apart? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series b: Biological Sciences, 356(1413), 1505–1515. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2001.0937
Van Elk, M., Van Schie, H. T., Zwaan, R. A., & Bekkering, H. (2010). The functional role of motor activation in language processing: Motor cortical oscillations support lexical-semantic retrieval. NeuroImage, 50(2), 665–677. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.12.123
Versace, R., Vallet, G. T., Riou, B., Lesourd, M., Labeye, É., & Brunel, L. (2014). Act-In: An integrated view of memory mechanisms. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 26(3), 280–306. https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2014.892113
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation was performed by Jérémy Villatte and Christel Bidet-Ildei. Data collection and analysis were performed by Jérémy Villatte. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Jérémy Villatte and all authors commented on previous version of the manuscript. Laurence Taconnat and Lucette Toussaint supervised the research activity. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Villatte, J., Taconnat, L., Bidet-Ildei, C. et al. The role of implicit motor simulation on action verb memory. Psychological Research 87, 441–451 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01671-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01671-1