Commentary: Effects of dividing attention on memory for declarative and procedural aspects of tool use.

François Osiurak,Mathieu Lesourd,Emanuelle Reynaud,Jordan Navarro

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01488

Abstract

Roy and Park (2016) developed the thesis that human tool use is based on a cooperative interaction of declarative and procedural memory systems (Roy and Park, 2010; Roy et al., 2015). This thesis is at odds with recent theoretical and empirical advances. Here, we discuss the validity of this thesis, suggesting that the declarative vs. procedural memory distinction is not suited for understanding the cognitive specificity of human tool use, namely, the ability to reason about physical object properties (Osiurak, 2014).

Highlights

Roy and Park (2016) developed the thesis that human tool use is based on a cooperative interaction of declarative and procedural memory systems (Roy and Park, 2010; Roy et al, 2015)
We discuss the validity of this thesis, suggesting that the declarative vs. procedural memory distinction is not suited for understanding the cognitive specificity of human tool use, namely, the ability to reason about physical object properties (Osiurak, 2014)
We found that the cytoarchitectonic area PF within the left inferior parietal cortex is strongly activated when participants have to reason about the appropriateness of mechanical actions, irrespective of whether tools and objects are familiar or novel

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Roy and Park (2016) developed the thesis that human tool use is based on a cooperative interaction of declarative and procedural memory systems (Roy and Park, 2010; Roy et al, 2015). This thesis is at odds with recent theoretical and empirical advances. We discuss the validity of this thesis, suggesting that the declarative vs procedural memory distinction is not suited for understanding the cognitive specificity of human tool use, namely, the ability to reason about physical object properties (Osiurak, 2014)

PEOPLE REASON TO USE TOOLS

CONCLUSION