Division of Psychology, Sociology and Education, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.
School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2020 Oct;1477(1):100-112. doi: 10.1111/nyas.14429. Epub 2020 Jul 9.
Visuospatial bootstrapping describes the observation that performance on a verbal memory task is enhanced by presenting the to-be-remembered material in a format with additional embedded spatial information. Thus far, it has only been reported in short-term memory tasks. Here, we report two experiments assessing the impact of spatial information on the learning of sequences in long-term memory. Experiment 1 used digits presented within a familiar numeric keypad as stimuli compared against single digits presented in one location. Experiment 2 used novel nonwords, which were either presented in an unchanging arrangement permitting the building-up of location knowledge or in a constantly changing arrangement. Both experiments demonstrated strong evidence that reliable spatial information facilitated sequence learning, particularly in later sequence positions. It is concluded that the incidental availability of spatialized information during study can facilitate learning of sequences of digits and nonwords. Furthermore, the spatial information can be learned during the task itself and does not need to be preexistent in long-term knowledge.
视空间启动描述了这样一种观察结果，即在呈现以额外嵌入空间信息为格式的待记忆材料的情况下，言语记忆任务的表现得到增强。到目前为止，这种现象仅在短期记忆任务中有所报道。在这里，我们报告了两项实验，评估空间信息对长期记忆中序列学习的影响。实验 1 使用熟悉的数字键盘内呈现的数字作为刺激，与在一个位置呈现的单个数字进行比较。实验 2 使用新的非单词，这些非单词要么以允许建立位置知识的不变排列呈现，要么以不断变化的排列呈现。这两个实验都有力地证明了可靠的空间信息有助于序列学习，特别是在序列的后期位置。结论是，在学习过程中偶然获得的空间化信息可以促进数字和非单词序列的学习。此外，空间信息可以在任务本身期间学习，而不需要在长期知识中预先存在。
