Effects of Episodic Memory Recall on Reinforcing Value of Physical Activity

Many people prefer a sedentary versus an active lifestyle and have difficulty completing sufficient physical activity to improve health. While exercise can be a powerful reinforcer for some people, many prefer to be sedentary. The relative reinforcing value of physical activity (RRV_PA) is influenced by a person's learning history with positive experiences strengthening the motivation to be active. Episodic memories may be critical to determining RRV_PA, or RRV of different types of positive behaviors.

As a potential way to increase RRV_PA we examined if recalling a positive episodic memory would affect RRV_PA. One hundred and thirty seven adult participants completed measures of reinforcement history and memory functions and then recalled a single positive episode of either a physical activity or of a cognitively enriching activity, rated subjective memory qualities, and completed tasks to measure the RRV of both types of activity.

Recalling a positive episodic memory increased RRV for the respective activity, and changes in RRV_PA were moderated by how much the memory satisfies a basic psychological need.

This research demonstrates the impact of episodic memory on RRV_PA, which could be leveraged to aid behavior change efforts.