The Effects of Retention Delay and Rotation on Spatial Memory

3606 Words15 Pages
The Effects of Retention Delay and Rotation on Spatial Memory. Abstract: The purpose of the experiment was to attain empirical evidence on how egocentric and allocentric representations are encoded in the short-term spatial memory, and how the manipulation of certain factors can affect this process. The aim was to discover whether rotating stimuli and increasing the time delay between observations and testing phases would have an effect on participants’ accuracy when remembering the position of a target. The study used a within subjects design, with all participants taking part in all conditions. A significant effect was found for rotation and also for the increased time delay, meaning that short-term spatial memory performance is greater when the orientation of the stimuli is not altered and when the retention delay is only a few seconds. No significant effect was found for the interaction between both variables, meaning that there was no additive effect of rotation and retention delay on participants’ performance. Introduction: The focus of the study was on spatial memory, and how egocentric and allocentric representations function to support spatial memory recall. Spatial memory refers to the process of a person retaining information on their environment and its spatial orientation. O’keefe & Nadel (1978) highlight the importance of this type of memory, and how simple everyday tasks depend on it, “Space plays a role in all our behaviour. We live in it, move through it, explore it, defend it.” Research into this area is crucial as spatial memory is vital to the survival of many species, including humans. Previous research by Spelke and Wang (2002) suggested that spatial memory relied solely on egocentric representations of a person’s locality. Egocentric representations function by encoding the location of objects in space relative to the body

More about The Effects of Retention Delay and Rotation on Spatial Memory

Open Document