Abstract
The spatial updating and memory systems are employed during updating in both the immediate and retrieved environments. However, these dual systems seem to work differently, as the difference of pointing latency and absolute error between the two systems vary across environments. To verify this issue, the present study employed the bias analysis of signed errors based on the hypothesis that the transformed representation will bias toward the original one. Participants learned a spatial layout and then either stayed in the learning location or were transferred to a neighboring room directly or after being disoriented. After that, they performed spatial judgments from perspectives aligned with the learning direction, aligned with the direction they faced during the test, or a novel direction misaligned with the two above-mentioned directions. The patterns of signed error bias were consistent across environments. Responses for memory aligned perspectives were unbiased, whereas responses for sensorimotor aligned perspectives were biased away from the memory aligned perspective, and responses for misaligned perspectives were biased toward sensorimotor aligned perspectives. These findings indicate that the spatial updating system is consistently independent of the spatial memory system regardless of the environments, but the updating system becomes less accessible as the environment changes from immediate to a retrieved one.
Highlights
Updating and memorizing spatial relations are extremely important in everyday life
Participants who stayed in the learning room were blindfolded and asked to selfrotate to face a novel direction, those who walked to a neighboring room were asked to imagine themselves standing at the learning location and facing the learning direction, from where they retrieved their memory of the learned environment
As participants learned the layout from a fixed direction, their spatial memory was established with a reference direction parallel to the learning direction, from where participants can retrieve spatial representation more than from other novel perspectives (e.g., Shelton and McNamara, 2001)
Summary
Updating and memorizing spatial relations are extremely important in everyday life. As mobile organisms, humans evolve a powerful spatial updating system, which enables them to efficiently navigate their immediate environment, by keeping track of object locations, reaching targets, and avoiding obstacles. Participants who stayed in the learning room were blindfolded and asked to selfrotate to face a novel direction (immediate condition), those who walked to a neighboring room were asked to imagine themselves standing at the learning location and facing the learning direction, from where they retrieved their memory of the learned environment. They self-rotated to face a novel direction (retrieved condition). It is relatively easy for participants to make spatial judgment from the perspective aligned with their current facing direction than from other novel directions
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