Memory for Spatial Location: Influences of Environmental Cues and Task Field Rotation

Abstract

Abstract. We developed a formal theoretical extension of the categoryadjustment model (Huttenlocher, Hedges, & Duncan, 1991) to incorporate the potential impact of external reference cues in spatial memory. This extension was tested in an experiment in which individuals remembered locations within a circular task field, with different numbers of peripheral cues available. Orientation of the task field was dynamic in the sense that it was rotated on the majority of trials. By modeling the angular bias shown in observers' estimates on unrotated trials, we sought to distinguish between cue-based categories and viewer-based geometric categories as the source of such bias. Results were consistent with our fuzzy boundary extension of the category-adjustment model in which observers generate prototypes based on available reference cues. Both memory accuracy and bias were affected by the number of cues in the task field as predicted.Keywords: spatial memory; bias; category effect; spatial cues; mental rotation. Memory for Spatial LocationUpon first consideration, memory for spatial location seems a simple matter. The ease with which a stationary observer can recall where a flash appeared in the night sky, where a "blip" disappeared from a radar screen, or where a familiar person stood in a crowd might suggest a straightforward, uncomplicated process. However, the literature on spatial cognition indicates that, theoretically speaking, spatial memory is a rather complicated phenomenon involving different types of memory, spatial frames of reference, and coding processes.The purpose of this investigation was to examine how characteristics of a spatial memory task, specifically the availability of environmental cues surrounding the task field and potential changes in task field orientation, influence performance and thus shape our inferences about spatial memory processes. Central to our approach were three considerations. First, we selected a memory task that included a stationary observer remembering a location in a small circular task space. This task provided a straightforward set of requirements, thus providing a clear picture of the influences of environmental cues and task field rotation. Second, we developed a specific quantitative model of the memory coding processes

Cue Effects on Memory for Location When Navigating Spatial Displays

“…These effects were well predicted by an extension of the previously developed flexible fuzzy-boundary model (Fitting et al, 2005;Wedell et al, 2007). Bias measures early and late in the navigational process reflected a shift in remembered locations in the direction toward the nearest available external cue.…”

External Cue Effects on Memory for Spatial Location within a Rotated Task Field

“…In previous research (Fitting et al, 2005, in press) we have demonstrated that when field rotation is absent, memory for spatial location in the classic dot location procedure is largely cue-independent rather than cue-dependent. This occurs even when ample peripheral cues are available.…”

“…The former model is referred to as the fixed-quadrants fuzzy-boundary model and the latter as the cue-based fuzzyboundary model. In this paper we will focus on the cue-based fuzzy-boundary model (for detailed description of the fixed-quadrants fuzzy-boundary model, see Fitting, Wedell, & Allen, 2005;.…”

Cue usage in memory for location when orientation is fixed

“…The model we use is based on our earlier work (Fitting, Wedell, & Allen, 2005, in which we extended Huttenlocher et al's (1991) category-adjustment model in two basic ways. First, the model included parameters that reflect the tendency to recruit prototypes from adjacent categories in making estimates of targets located near a boundary.…”