Orientation and perspective dependence in route and survey learning.
Three experiments investigated the role of egocentric orientation in subsequent memory for layouts learned via route (ground-level) and survey (aerial or overview) perspectives. Participants learned virtual environments from text descriptions (Experiment 1) or visual presentation (Experiments 1-3). In all experiments, scene recognition for route and survey images revealed a cost for switching perspective from study to test. In addition, recognition performance was facilitated when the test view matched the observer's learned orientation but only for the same-perspective recognition test. Experiment 3 demonstrated orientation dependence in judgments of relative direction, with a strong emphasis on initial heading. Together, these results suggest that establishing a reference system for representing spatial information is dependent on specific characteristics of the learning situation.
Shelton
Amy L
AL
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. ashelton@jhu.edu
McNamara
Timothy P
TP
D003463:Cues; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013037:Spatial Behavior; D014584:User-Computer Interface