THE EFFECTS OF ENACTIVE ENCODING, TYPE OF MOVEMENT, AND IMAGINED PERSPECTIVE ON MEMORY OF DANCE

The present experiments examine the importance of the availability of verbal descriptions and internal motor representations on memory of self-performed tasks, or the SPT effect, by varying the commonality of the actions (Experiments 1 and 2) and the knowledge of the performers (dancers vs. nondancers, Experiment 2). In addition, the effects of the perspective one adopts during imagination was assessed by manipulation of whom the subjects imagined performing (self vs. other, Experiment 1) and of how they imagined themselves performing (Experiment 2). Results suggest that the availability of verbal descriptions and motor representations are not essential for the production of an SPT effect, since subjects demonstrated an SPT effect for uncommon movements (Experiment 1). Furthermore, the availability of verbal descriptions and motor representations does not guarantee an SPT effect; dancers did not exhibit this effect (Experiment 2). Finally, the perspective one adopts during imagining affects memory performance in that whom one imagines (self vs. other) has a significant effect (Experiment 1). © 1991 Springer-Verlag.