The movement-induced self-reference effect: enhancing memorability through movement toward the self.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Bodily actions demonstrably influence cognitive states.
• Self-approach actions, like pulling objects, enhance memory for those objects.
• Previous research indicates a link between physical self-movement and memory encoding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if incidental joystick movements toward a self-representation enhance memory for static stimuli.
• To determine if this memory enhancement is specific to movements directed toward the physical self or external self-representations.
• To explore whether self-referential processing can be induced by approach motor actions.

Main Methods:

• Participants performed joystick movements toward or away from static stimuli (words and pictures).
• Movement targets included the physical self, a computer monitor, and an external self-representation (a phone).
• Recognition memory was assessed for the stimuli evaluated during movement tasks.

Main Results:

• Recognition memory was significantly enhanced for stimuli evaluated during movements toward a self-representation (physical or external).
• The memory advantage was associated with movement toward the self, not movement away from the self.
• This effect occurred regardless of stimulus type (words/pictures), intention to learn, or stimulus motion.

Conclusions:

• Approach motor actions directed toward a self-representation can induce self-referential processing.
• This self-referential processing enhances episodic memory encoding.
• The self-referential memory advantage can be disembodied, extending to external representations of the self.