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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2025.10.15.682521

Generalisation between motor and declarative memory sequences: A conceptual replication of Mosha & Robertson (2016)

Thong, S.·Hendrikse, J.·Chong, T. T.- J.·Coxon, J.
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Abstract

Motor and declarative memory systems have been traditionally considered distinct. However, a study by Mosha and Robertson (2016) reported striking evidence of generalisation between motor and declarative learning. Specifically, learning improved if the current task (e.g. motor sequence) shared the same high-level ordinal structure as an earlier task (e.g. word list), demonstrating cross-domain transfer of unstable memories. This finding has significant implications for our understanding and conceptualisation of memory taxonomies but has not been replicated. Here, healthy adult participants (N = 125) completed a word list and motor sequence task in counterbalanced order with either a shared or distinct sequence structure. In contrast to Mosha & Robertson (2016), we found that a shared ordinal structure between the declarative and motor sequence tasks did not facilitate performance. Overall, our results challenge the robustness of cross-domain generalisation, and underscore the complexity of cross-memory interactions.

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Thong, S., Hendrikse, J., Chong, T. T.- J., Coxon, J.. 2025-10-15. Generalisation between motor and declarative memory sequences: A conceptual replication of Mosha & Robertson (2016). https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.15.682521

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