title: Location memory for dots in polygons versus cities in regions: evaluating the category adjustment model.
abstract: We conducted 3 experiments to examine the category adjustment model (Huttenlocher, Hedges, & Duncan, 1991) in circumstances in which the category boundaries were irregular schematized polygons made from outlines of maps. For the first time, accuracy was tested when only perceptual and/or existing long-term memory information about identical locations was cued. Participants from Alberta, Canada and California received 1 of 3 conditions: dots-only, in which a dot appeared within the polygon, and after a 4-s dynamic mask the empty polygon appeared and the participant indicated where the dot had been; dots-and-names, in which participants were told that the first polygon represented Alberta/California and that each dot was in the correct location for the city whose name appeared outside the polygon; and names-only, in which there was no first polygon, and participants clicked on the city locations from extant memory alone. Location recall in the dots-only and dots-and-names conditions did not differ from each other and had small but significant directional errors that pointed away from the centroids of the polygons. In contrast, the names-only condition had large and significant directional errors that pointed toward the centroids. Experiments 2 and 3 eliminated the distribution of stimuli and overall screen position as causal factors. The data suggest that in the "classic" category adjustment paradigm, it is difficult to determine a priori when Bayesian cue combination is applicable, making Bayesian analysis less useful as a theoretical approach to location estimation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. alinda@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Alinda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Montello
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Burte
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000416:Alberta; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002140:California; D002947:Cities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities; D014794:Visual Fields