Memory for action is enhanced if individuals are allowed to perform the corresponding movements compared to when they simply listen to them (enactment effect). Previous studies have shown that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders have difficulties with processes involving the self, such as autobiographical memories and self performed actions. The present study aimed to assess memory for action in Asperger Syndrome (AS). Check the end of this report to download this open access article.
Researchers investigated whether adults with Asperger Syndrome would benefit from the enactment effect when recalling a list of previously performed items vs. items that were only visually and verbally experienced through three experimental tasks (Free Recall, Old/New Recognition, and Source Memory). The Free Recall test asked participants to write down all the sentences they remembered from a previous activity. The Old/New Recognition task had participants view a list of 60 sentences that appeared one at a time in the center of a computer screen. For each sentence, participants decided whether it corresponded to an item that had previously appeared (old item) or not (new item). The last measure was a Source Memory task in which participants viewed the 60-sentence list a second time and decided whether old items corresponded to enacted or observed items. Please see the original study for a more detailed explanation of these procedures.
The results showed the absence of enactment effect (i.e., a positive difference between the proportions of enacted vs. observed [visually and verbally encoded] items in individuals with Asperger Syndrome. Interestingly, this pattern emerged only when they were engaged in voluntary retrieval of previously presented items (i.e. Free Recall task), which suggests that participants with Asperger Syndrome did not benefit from performing the actions to the same extent as participants with typical development. In fact, when successively tested on New-Old and Source Memory Recognition tasks, the two groups showed similar performance.
The researchers stated that these findings are poorly explained in terms of a general episodic memory deficit and that the absence of an enactment effect on the Free Recall task in individuals with AS might reflect two possible impairments: either they have lost the ability to store the distinctive cues that characterize self-generated events or they might fail to access self-relevant information.
Material adapted from PloS ONE.
Download / Reference
Zalla T, Daprati E, Sav A-M, Chaste P, Nico D, et al. (2010). Memory for Self-Performed Actions in Individuals with Asperger Syndrome. PLoS ONE 5(10): e13370. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013370
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