Sensory-Feedback Modes as Determinants of Learning and Memory

Abstract

The role of sensory feedback factors in determining learning and memory was investigated in terms of the effects of four different modes of movement control of sensory input on memory of stimulus patterns?i.e., (1) vis ual tracking of the pattern without manual control, (2) parallel pursuit tracking of the pattern with a hand-con trolled visual cursor, (3) opposed pursuit tracking of the stimulus pattern with a hand-controlled visual cursor, and (4) compensatory negative feedback tracking in which the subject observed only the error of tracking the stimulus pattern. Results indicated that mode of sensory feedback control of sensed input of stimulus patterns during learn ing determined immediate memory, and that memory was superior for modes of feedback control in which the pattern of stimulation and of movement could be compared. The main conclusion was that the processes of active and passive learning and their role in determining learning and memory are specifiable and predictable as variable forms of movement-controlled sensory feedback. THIS EXPERIMENT has studied learning and memory in terms of its sensory-feedback determinants. The aim of the experiment was to determine if the modes of feedback control of sensory stimuli during learning could influence the degree of recall of the space-time pattern of these stimuli. The hypothesis guiding design of the study was that learning is determined by the direct sensory-feedback effects of active move ment and that the extent of learning and of memory depends on the modes of such feedback regulation of sensed input (2). In the experi ment, we have measured the variations in repro duction of a space-time pattern of a perceived and tracked visual stimulus in relation to man ual and visual control of this pattern and to the mode of the manual feedback control. Method