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Working memory components in survey and route spatial text processing

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Cristina Formigoni, Enrico Gobbato, and Luana Serali for data collection on Experiments 1 and 2.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia, 8, 35100, Padua, Italy

    Francesca Pazzaglia, Chiara Meneghetti & Rossana De Beni

  2. Université Paris Descartes, CNRS, Paris, France

    Valerie Gyselinck

Authors
  1. Francesca Pazzaglia
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  2. Chiara Meneghetti
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  3. Rossana De Beni
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  4. Valerie Gyselinck
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesca Pazzaglia.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Examples of spatial texts used in Experiments 1 and 2 (The tourist center)

Route version

To reach the tourist center, you need to take the wide state highway 5. Halfway along the state highway, you will find kilometer marker 28 on your right. Turn right at kilometer marker 28 into the level road called Via del Lago, which goes right round the lake. When you start walking along the road, which bends slightly to the right, you will see the lake on your right and the quiet town of Carpognano on the left. Still on the left, beyond Carpognano, you will see the beginning of a dense oak wood famed for its many centuries-old trunks.

Keep going along the road and on your left, after Carpognano, you will see a Liberty-style inn closed for restoration. Go straight ahead and you will soon see the tennis courts, which are used for a number of local competitions, on your left at the end of the oak wood. Keep on as the road bends slightly to the right, and after the bend, you will see the hills on your left, which arch round the entire area. Continue with the lake on your right and at the foot of the hills, on your left, you will have the thermal baths of sulfur water and soon afterward a large medical rehabilitation center specializing in respiratory diseases. Again continue as the road bends slightly to the right and as you leave the hills behind you, you will see the beginning of the “San Vincenzo” riding center on the left, renowned for training thoroughbred stallions. Continue with the riding center on your left and on your right on the lakeshore you will immediately find a small harbor for sailing boats, which can sail on the lake, and soon afterward a boat rental kiosk. Keep going along the road with the riding center on your left, and as the road bends slightly to the right, you will get back to kilometer marker 28.

Survey version

The tourist center includes a small lake, which is bordered by state highway 5 to the north and by the hills to the south. North of the lake is the wide state highway 5, which stretches from east to west above the entire area. Halfway along state highway 5 is kilometer marker 28, from which a road, called Via del Lago, sets out in a southern direction. The Via del Lago goes right round the lake back to kilometer marker 28 in the north. East of Via del Lago, moving from north to south, you can find: the quiet town of Carpognano further to the north, a Liberty-style inn closed for restoration further to the south, and even further south the tennis courts, which are used for a number of local competitions. East of the town of Carpognano, a dense oak wood, famed for its many centuries-old trunks, stretches from north to south. This dense oak wood extends to the south as far as the tennis courts. At the most southern point of the lake is the hills, which stretch from east to west across the entire extent of the tourist center. Between the hills and the Via del Lago, moving from east to west, the ancient thermal baths of sulfur water can be found and even further to the west is a large medical rehabilitation center specializing in respiratory diseases. West of the lake the frequently visited “San Vincenzo” riding center, renowned for training thoroughbred stallions, extends from south to north. On the western shore of the lake, east of the frequently visited riding center, is a small harbor for sailing boats, which can sail on the lake. Further to the north of the harbor, still on the lakeshore, is a boat rental kiosk for tourists.

Example of sentences for the sentence verification task

Route version

1. As you start moving along Via del Lago, you will find the oak wood on your far left (TRUE)

2. Just before the tennis courts on your left, you will have found the inn (TRUE)

Survey version

1. The thermal baths are south-west with respect to the inn. (TRUE)

2. Kilometer marker 28 is north-east with respect to the medical center. (FALSE)

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Pazzaglia, F., Meneghetti, C., De Beni, R. et al. Working memory components in survey and route spatial text processing. Cogn Process 11, 359–369 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-009-0353-0

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