Perception of Space by Multiple Intrinsic Frames of Reference

It has been documented that when memorizing a physical space, the person's mental representation of that space is biased with distortion and segmentation. Two experiments reported here suggest that distortion and segmentation arise due to a hierarchical organization of the spatial representation. The spatial relations associated with salient landmarks are more strongly encoded and easier to recall than those associated with non-salient landmarks. In the presence of multiple salient landmarks, multiple intrinsic frames of reference are formed and spatial relations are anchored to each individual frame of reference. Multiple such representations may co-exist and interactively determine a person's spatial performance

Collaborating in spatial tasks: Partners adapt the perspective of their descriptions, coordination strategies, and memory representations.

The partner’s viewpoint influences spatial descriptions and, when strongly emphasized, spatial memories as well. We examined whether partnerspecific information affects the representations people spontaneously construct, the description strategies they spontaneously select, and the representations their collaborating partner constructs based on these descriptions. Directors described to a misaligned Matcher arrays learned while either knowing the Matcher’s viewpoint or not. Knowing the Matcher’s viewpoint led to distinctive processing in spatial judgments and a rotational bias in array drawings. Directors’ descriptions reflected strategic choices, suggesting that partners considered each other’s computational demands. Such strategies were effective as reflected by the number of conversational turns partners took to coordinate. Matchers represented both partners’ viewpoints in memory, with the Directors’ descriptions predicting the facilitated perspective. Thus, partners behave contingently in spatial tasks to optimize their coordination: the availability of the partner’s viewpoint influences one’s memory and description strategies, which in turn influence the partner’s memory

Integration of spatial relations across perceptual experiences.

People often carry out tasks that entail coordinating spatial information encoded in temporally and/or spatially distinct perceptual experiences. Much research has been conducted to determine whether such spatial information is integrated into a single spatial representation or whether it is kept in separate representations that can be related at the time of retrieval. Here, we review the existing literature on the integration of spatial information and present results from a new experiment aimed at examining whether locations encoded from different perspectives in the same physical environments are integrated into a single spatial representation. Overall, our findings, coupled with those from other studies, suggest that separate spatial representations are maintained in memory

Représenter l'espace des objets physiques: La thèse de la dépendance réciproque entre l'identification des objets et celle des lieux

Cet article a pour but de réfléchir à nouveaux frais à une thèse philosophique traditionnelle qui a une portée fondamentale pour toute étude de la cognition spatiale. Cette thèse articule les relations, au niveau de la pensée conceptuelle, entre nos représentations des objets physiques et celles des lieux qu'ils occupent, et établit l'existence d'une dépendance réciproque entre ces deux ensembles de représentations. Nous tenterons d'établir dans quelle mesure des recherches récentes en sciences cognitives permettent de réviser et de préciser cette thèse (que nous appellerons la ‘thèse de la dépendance réciproque'). Pour cela, nous commencerons par présenter son sens philosophique. Ensuite, nous examinerons des travaux théoriques et empiriques qui semblent pouvoir la remettre en cause, issus des recherches sur les capacités de représentation topographique de lieux et de référence déictique à des objets physiques. Notre conclusion est qu'en dépit du problème de circularité qu'elle pose au niveau conceptuel (l'identification des objets dépendant de celle des lieux, qui à son tour dépendrait de celle des objets), la thèse de la dépendance réciproque reste valable à ce même niveau. Les difficultés posées par la circularité sont surmontées dans la mesure où la représentation des objets et la représentation des lieux reposent sur la fonction d'accessibilité propre aux capacités déictiques et topographiques

Selection of macroreference frames in spatial memory

Spatial memories are often hierarchically organized with different regions of space represented in unique clusters within the hierarchy. Each cluster is thought to be organized around its own microreference frame selected during learning, whereas relationships between clusters are organized by a macroreference frame. Two experiments were conducted in order to better understand important characteristics of macroreference frames. Participants learned overlapping spatial layouts of objects within a room-sized environment before performing a perspective-taking task from memory. Of critical importance were between-layout judgments thought to reflect the macroreference frame. The results indicate that (1) macroreference frames characterize overlapping spatial layouts, (2) macroreference frames are used even when microreference frames are aligned with one another, and (3) macroreference frame selection depends on an interaction between the global macroaxis (defined by characteristics of the layout of all learned objects), the relational macroaxis (defined by characteristics of the two layouts being related on a perspective-taking trial), and the learning view. These results refine the current understanding of macroreference frames and document their broad role in spatial memory

Reference frames during the acquisition and development of spatial memories

Four experiments investigated the role of reference frames during the acquisition and development of spatial knowledge, when learning occurs incrementally across views. In two experiments, participants learned overlapping spatial layouts. Layout 1 was first studied in isolation, and Layout 2 was later studied in the presence of Layout 1. The Layout 1 learning view was manipulated, whereas the Layout 2 view was held constant. Manipulation of the Layout 1 view influenced the reference frame used to organize Layout 2, indicating that reference frames established during early environmental exposure provided a framework for organizing locations learned later. Further experiments demonstrated that reference frames established after learning served to reorganize an existing spatial memory. These results indicate that existing reference frames can structure the acquisition of new spatial memories and that new reference frames can reorganize existing spatial memories

Representing 3D Space in Working Memory: Spatial Images from Vision, Hearing, Touch, and Language

The chapter deals with a form of transient spatial representation referred to as a spatial image. Like a percept, it is externalized, scaled to the environment, and can appear in any direction about the observer. It transcends the concept of modality, as it can be based on inputs from the three spatial senses, from language, and from long-term memory. Evidence is presented that supports each of the claimed properties of the spatial image, showing that it is quite different from a visual image. Much of the evidence presented is based on spatial updating. A major concern is whether spatial images from different input modalities are functionally equivalent— that once instantiated in working memory, the spatial images from different modalities have the same functional characteristics with respect to subsequent processing, such as that involved in spatial updating. Going further, the research provides some evidence that spatial images are amodal (i.e., do not retain modality-specific features)

The protagonist's first perspective influences the encoding of spatial information in narratives

Three experiments examined the first-perspective alignment effect that is observed when retrieving spatial information from memory about described environments. Participants read narratives that described the viewpoint of a protagonist in fictitious environments and then pointed to the memorized locations of described objects from imagined perspectives. Results from Experiments 1 and 2 showed that performance was best when participants responded from the protagonist’s first perspective even though object locations were described from a different perspective. In Experiment 3, in which participants were physically oriented with the perspective used to describe object locations, performance from that description perspective was better than that from the protagonist’s first perspective, which was, in turn, better than performance from other perspectives. These findings suggest that when reading narratives, people default to using a reference frame that is aligned with their own facing direction, although physical movement may facilitate retrieval from other perspectives