Maomiao Peng

2026

1. JEP-General

   Intrusions into script-like action sequences: A behavioral investigation

   Maomiao Peng, Mary A Peterson, and Lynn Nadel

   Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2026

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   Abstract - Prior knowledge can facilitate the learning of related material, while this new learning can itself modify the memory underlying that prior knowledge. Research on the flexibility of memory has concentrated on episodic memories (Hupbach et al., 2007), fear-related associations (Su et al., 2022), and categorical knowledge (Richter et al., 2019); little is known about the memories for structured action sequences. To address this, we trained participants on two minimal script-like action sequences containing repeated object pairs while manipulating two factors: the similarity between scripts (four vs. six repeated pairs) and the required action linking objects to target boxes into which they were to be moved (click vs. drag). We found that memory intrusions—recalling elements or subsequences from the later sequence when asked to recall the initial sequence—occurred not only for isolated elements but also as linked intrusions involving both object and location. These memory intrusions were more likely with six (vs. four) repeated pairs and when participants used the drag (vs. click) action. Experiment 2 tested whether the results of Experiment 1 could be replicated at the group level and assessed their stability across time at the individual level. While the basic results of Experiment 1 were replicated in Experiment 2, its results were less conclusive regarding whether memory intrusions reflect trait-like stability across time. Together, these findings demonstrated that intrusions into previously learned action sequences occur with new learning, highlighting the plasticity of memories involving script-like behaviors.

2023

1. hipo

   Extended trajectory of spatial memory errors in typical and atypical development: The role of binding and precision

   Maomiao Peng, Annalysa Lovos, Kenneth Bottrill, and 6 more authors

   Hippocampus, 2023

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   Abstract - Spatial reconstruction, a method for evaluating how individuals remember the placement of objects, has traditionally been evaluated through the aggregate estimation of placement errors. However, this approach may obscure the nature of task errors. Specifically, recent data has suggested the importance of examining the precision of responses, as well as absolute performance on item-context bindings. In contrast to traditional analysis approaches based on the distance between the target and the reconstructed item, in this study we further explored three types of errors (swap error, global error, and local distance) that may all contribute to the distance, with particular emphasis on swap errors and local distance due to their associations with item-context bindings and memory precision, respectively. We examined these errors in children aged 3-18 years, making comparisons between children with typical development (TD) and children with Down syndrome (DS), a population with known memory challenges. As expected, older children outperformed younger children in terms of overall memory accuracy. Of importance is that we measured uneven maturational trajectories of memory abilities across the various error types. Specifically, both remembered locations (irrespective of object identity) and swap errors (object-location binding errors) align with the overall memory accuracy. Memory precision, as measured by local distance in simpler set size 2 trials, mirrored overall memory accuracy. However, for more complex set size 3 trials, local distance remained stable before age 8 and showed age-related change thereafter. The group with DS showed reduced precision compared to a TD matched group, and measures of precision, and to a lesser extent binding errors, correlated with standard neuropsychological outcomes. Overall, our study contributed to a fine-grained understanding of developing spatial memory ability in a large sample of typical developing children and a memory impaired population. These findings contribute to a growing body of research examining precision as a key factor in memory performance.