In which case is working memory for movements affected by verbal interference? Evidence from the verbal description of movement

Abstract

ABSTRACT Current perspectives on whether verbal interference affects working memory for movements have not yet reached a consensus. This study explored the causes of this controversy to reveal the relation between working memory for movements and the phonological loop. Experiment 1 explored whether the verbal description of movement moderated the effect of verbal interference (articulatory suppression) on working memory for movements. Verbal interference only affected working memory for easy-to-describe movements (lower accuracy). Experiment 2 excluded the interpretation of familiarity to the controversy and the effect of familiarity on the results of Experiment 1. Experiment 3 verified the results of Experiment 1 with another form of verbal interference, i.e., presenting irrelevant words visually. These three experiments suggest that the phonological loop is not recruited for processing working memory for movements in nature, but the two may interact through the verbal description prestored in the long-term memory. Thus, the current study provides a certain level of support for the separable movement-based subsystem hypothesis (Smyth, M. M., Pearson, N. A., & Pendleton, L. R. (1988). Movement and working memory: Patterns and positions in space. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A: Human Experimental Psychology, 40(3), 497–514. doi:10.1080/02724988843000041).