title: Evidence of separable spatial representations in a virtual navigation task.
abstract: Three experiments investigated spatial orientation in a virtual navigation task. Subjects had to adjust a homing vector indicating their end position relative to the origin of the path. It was demonstrated that sparse visual flow was sufficient for accurate path integration. Moreover, subjects were found to prefer a distinct egocentric or allocentric reference frame to solve the task. "Turners" reacted as if they had taken on the new orientation during turns of the path by mentally rotating their sagittal axis (egocentric frame). "Nonturners," by contrast, tracked the new orientation without adopting it (allocentric frame). When instructed to use their nonpreferred reference frame, both groups displayed no decline in response accuracy relative to their preferred frame; even when presented with reaction formats based on either ego or allocentric coordinates, with format unpredictable on a trial, both groups responded highly accurately. These findings support the assumption of coexisting spatial representations during navigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2673-1832
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gramann
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology.
authors.forename: Hermann J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Physiologische und Arbeitspsychologie.
authors.forename: Eva-Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Eick
authors.affiliation: Physiologische und Arbeitspsychologie.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schönebeck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013028:Space Perception; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014796:Visual Perception