Abstract

The present study aims to investigate whether gestures' observation modulates the ability to intentionally forget action phrases. Series of words or sentences are better memorized when at encoding the learner observes congruent gestures with the meaning of the material to be learned. Several studies suggest that gestures lead to lasting memory traces by strengthening procedural information and through the activation of motor system. In this perspective, we hypothesized that intentional forgetting of action phrases may be more difficult when they are accompanied by gestures compared to when they are not accompanied by gestures. In line with this hypothesis, preliminary results suggest that motor and procedural information conveyed by gestures make difficult to intentionally forget verbal information.