The role of self-to-object updating in orientation-free performance on spatial-memory tasks.
A single view of a room-sized path produces an orientation-specific memory representation, yet when memory is tested at a location on the path, orientation-free performance is observed. Either a virtual-views or an updating hypothesis can account for orientation-free performance by attributing it, respectively, to an orientation-free long-term-memory representation or to a working-memory representation of the body's updated location relative to the path. Experiments 1 and 2 test these hypotheses by manipulating the test-site location and the complexity of the trajectory from the study site to the test site. Experiment 3 tests orientation to the test space as a function of trajectory complexity. Results support a virtual-views explanation for the orientation-free performance of males and an updating explanation for females.
Sholl
M Jeanne
MJ
Department of Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467-3807, USA. sholl@bc.edu
Bartels
Genevieve P
GP
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009949:Orientation; D011930:Reaction Time; D012737:Sex Factors; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*