Utility of Tracing as a Memory Storage Method
Open Access
- 1 January 2017
- journal article
- Published by Scientific Research Publishing, Inc. in World Journal of Neuroscience
- Vol. 07 (02), 216-222
- https://doi.org/10.4236/wjns.2017.72017
Abstract
Although many studies have explored the utility of tracing as a rehabilitation approach for patients with aphasia and alexia and for Japanese patients with various disabilities, this may be the first study to demonstrate the superiority of tracing over copying for enhancing long-term memory. We investigated the utility of tracing as a memory storage method. Young and elderly participants learned a figure from the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test by copying or tracing its outline. They were asked to reproduce the figure after 3 min and 3 days. Although the copying group performed better than the tracing group in immediate recall after 3 min, the performance of the tracing and copying groups after 3 days was similar. Among younger participants, the tracing group achieved higher scores than the copying group after 3 days; however, the difference was not statistically significant. Copying as a learning strategy has a substantial temporal gradient of memory loss; tracing may be more appropriate for improving long-term memory. This result could have considerable practical usefulness, e.g., among professionals who provide memory training for the elderly. Tracing, which uses visuomotor memory, is acquired earlier than transcription. Tracing may be effective for rehabilitation because it is a developmentally appropriate approach to early instruction.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Is tracing or copying better when learning to reproduce a pattern?Experimental Brain Research, 2010