Abstract
This thesis is part of a vision where memory is considered as a unique system maintaining all of our experiences in multidimensional memory traces, that is to say, reflecting sensorimotor properties from our past experiences. Moreover, from this perspective, knowledge is not retrieved in memory (i.e. memory content), but emerges from the interaction between the current situation and traces of past situations (i.e. memory processes). This emerging knowledge is the product of the dynamics of activation and integration mechanisms (Act-In Model, Versace et al, 2014). Our objective was to investigate the influence of these dynamics on the effectiveness of discriminant activity, that is to say, our ability to distinguish one specific knowledge from other ones (e.g. recall, recognition). We then conducted two sets of experiments to show that this efficiency depends on both the characteristics of the memory trace (i.e. trace distinctiveness) and those of the situation (i.e. similarity between the retrieval cues and memory traces). Primarily, we chose to manipulate the trace distinctiveness through an isolation paradigm. Secondly we focused on motor similarity between the retrieval situation and traces of past experiences. The difficulty to observe significant differences (first serie of experiments) and the originality of some results (second serie of experiments) tend to support the idea of a memory allowing the construction of behavior in response to a given situation.