Abstract
Amplifying real-time auditory feedback has been found to enhance movement fluidity during handwriting. Although this real-time feedback is beneficial for motor performance, it remains unclear if providing real-time feedback could also facilitate the recognition of words encoded with writing. The purpose of this study was to examine whether amplified sound feedback of handwriting facilitates recognition memory. Twelve neurologically healthy participants (aged 18–25) completed two experimental phases. Participants first watched an unfamiliar Arabic character being dynamically drawn for 5 seconds, then had 8 seconds to reproduce it from memory. This was repeated 36 times across three randomized conditions (12 per condition): natural auditory feedback, no feedback, and amplified feedback. A motion capture system tracked pencil-tip movement, and mean writing velocity was used as a measure of fluidity. Following each condition, participants completed a memory recognition test where recognition accuracy was assessed. A linear mixed-effects model revealed that natural auditory feedback produced higher recognition accuracy than amplified feedback. Crucially, we found a significant condition by velocity interaction, indicating a weaker speed-memory slope under natural sound compared to amplified sound. Taken together, our findings suggest that writing with natural sound facilitated memory performance. However, when writing with amplified sound, our results suggest that participants who produced more fluid movements had greater memory benefits. Future work should test adaptive auditory feedback protocols in rehabilitation settings to enhance both motor performance and memory retention.
