Abstract
Prior information represents the long-term statistical structure of an environment. For example, colds develop more often than throat cancer, making the former a more likely diagnosis for a sore throat. There is ample evidence for effective use of prior information during a variety of perceptual tasks, including the ability to recall locations using an egocentric (self-based) frame. However, it is not yet known if people can use prior information effectively when using an allocentric (world-based) frame. Forty-eight adults were shown sixty sets of three target locations in a sparse virtual environment with three beacons. The targets were drawn from one of four prior distributions. They were then asked to point to the targets after a delay and a change in perspective. While searches were biased towards the beacons, we did not find any evidence that participants successfully exploited the prior distributions of targets. These results suggest that allocentric reasoning does not conform to normative Bayesian models: we saw no evidence for use of priors in our cognitively-complex (allocentric) task, unlike in previous, simpler (egocentric) recall tasks. It is possible that this reflects the high biological cost of processing precise allocentric information.
Highlights
For readers who may be unfamiliar, we will start by defining prior information, allocentric, and allocentric prior information
A normative Bayesian observer still has noise in different streams of perception, but the observer integrates the multiple sources of information available in the most efficient way possible
For our purposes here, a normative Bayesian observer exploits available prior information. We treat this as part of the definition: a normative Bayesian observer, when placed in a situation with strong prior information, exploits that prior information in line with Bayesian principles
Summary
For readers who may be unfamiliar, we will start by defining prior information, allocentric, and allocentric prior information. A normative Bayesian observer still has noise in different streams of perception, but the observer integrates the multiple sources of information available in the most efficient way possible This has been applied, for example, to modelling how people use audio and visual information together during multisensory tasks[29]. One recent theory suggests that the brain processes low-level sensory information like a normative Bayesian observer, without any similar mechanism in place for high-level abstractions[32,33,34]. The development of this type of theory benefits greatly from a wide catalogue of information about Bayesian reasoning across different, important kinds of cognition. Studying the use of allocentric prior information will result in a more complete characterization of human spatial cognition
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