Compatible Effects Enhance Short-Term Action-Effect Binding

Each action results in a variety of effects, and the extent to which an effect is compatible with the action that produced it may influence the strength of the link between the action and the effect in memory. Two experiments addressed this role of action-effect compatibility on the acquisition of action-effect bindings and the retrieval of actions upon reencountering their effects. Participants engaged in a sequential prime-probe task. In prime trials, a freely chosen keypress caused a spatially (in)compatible box movement followed by the presentation of a word. In the subsequent probe trials, another free-choice action was to be executed upon presentation of the same or a different word. Overall, when prime words repeated in the probe, participants were more likely to also repeat the action, indicating action retrieval by effect presentation. Importantly, this influence was larger after compatible than after incompatible prime episodes. Possibly, compatible effects were more strongly bound to their corresponding actions than incompatible effects, leading to higher rates of action retrieval when the same effects were reencountered. However, the influence of AEC did not extend to the declarative memory for effect identities. These findings suggest that, in short-term contexts, action-effect compatibility plays a crucial role in action-effect binding and retrieval.