Spontaneous memory strategies in a videogame simulating everyday memory tasks

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Human Memory

Background:

• Internal strategies aid daily task management, but research on their impact on performance is limited.
• Understanding individual differences in memory performance requires examining strategy use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate self-reported internal strategy use in neurotypical adults during a simulated everyday memory task.
• To determine the relationship between strategy use and performance on the Executive Performance in Everyday LIving (EPELI) videogame.

Main Methods:

• 202 neurotypical adults (18-50 years) played a 10-block version of the EPELI videogame, reporting strategies used.
• Strategy reports were collected after EPELI blocks, an Instruction Recall task, and a Word List Learning task.
• Performance was compared between participants who reported using strategies and those who did not.

Main Results:

• 45% of participants reported using strategies, with common types including grouping, familiar action schemas, and information condensation.
• Strategy users demonstrated significantly better performance on EPELI compared to non-users.
• The 'grouping' strategy was particularly effective, and strategy use showed gradual stabilization over time.

Conclusions:

• Self-initiated internal strategy use is important for everyday memory performance.
• Employing strategies like grouping can enhance performance on memory-intensive tasks.
• Strategy use shows a reliable association with episodic memory, suggesting broader cognitive benefits.