Memory for spatial location in two-dimensional arrays

Abstract

Memory for spatial location in a two-dimensional display was studied in two experiments by means of a recognition task. The first experiment investigated the effects of presenting multiple reference points at the same time as sequentially shown to-be-remembered (TBR) locations. In the second experiment, the TBR locations were presented either one by one or four at a time with and without multiple reference points. The reference points tended to decrease the false alarm rate during acquisition, rather than to increase the hit rate, which suggests that they affected the precision rather than the amount of systematic bias in memory for the locations. Similar effects were obtained when the TBR locations were presented four at a time. The reference points were also found to serve as effective retrieval cues in a final recognition test. Reference points may thus facilitate both acquisition and retrieval of information about spatial location.