The specificity of memory enhancement during interaction with a virtual environment

Two experiments investigated differences between active and passive partici pation in a computer-generated virtual environment in terms of spatial memo ry, object memory, and object location memory. It was found that active par ticipants, who controlled their movements in the virtual environment using a joystick, recalled the spatial layout of the virtual environment better t han passive participants, who merely watched the active participants' progr ess. Conversely, there were no significant differences between the active a nd passive participants' recall or recognition of the virtual objects, nor in their recall of the correct locations of objects in the virtual environm ent. These findings are discussed in terms of subject-performed task resear ch and the,specificity of memory enhancement in virtual environments.