Bootstrapping the visuospatial bootstrapping effect and testing its spatialisation

When sequences of digits are visually presented within a numerical keypad on a screen, memory span increases, this effect was named visuospatial bootstrapping. The aim of the first experiment was to know if this effect could emerge without presenting a keypad on the screen. For this purpose, a three-phase experiment was designed. During phase 1, the immediate serial recall of two groups of participants was compared (pre-training): the first group saw sequences of one-digit numbers displayed on a screen within a keypad (the keypad group) whereas the second group heard the (same) sequences (the auditive group). During phase 2, all participants underwent a training session to help them visualise in their mind a keypad. Finally, in the third phase, participants were tested again with an immediate serial recall task (post-training). Results showed that both groups had comparable performance in post-training indicating that the visuospatial bootstrapping could be obtained without displaying a numerical keypad. The second experiment also involved a keypad group and an auditive group and was designed to investigate their spatial representation. Results showed that both groups spatialised the digits following the keypad spatial configuration: digits 1-4-7 were associated to left, 2-5-8 to middle and 3-6-9 to right.