Orientation in cognitive maps

doi:10.1016/0010-0285(81)90007-4

Cognitive Psychology

Volume 13, Issue 2, April 1981, Pages 149-206

https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(81)90007-4 Get rights and content

Abstract

In 14 experiments, subjects had to “point to” surrounding environmental locations (targets) while imagining themselves in a particular spot facing in various directions (orientations). The spatial information was either committed to memory (cognitive maps) or directly presented on each trial in the visual or tactile modality. Reaction times (RT) indicated that orientation shifts were achieved through mental rotation in the visual task, but not in the cognitive map or tactile tasks. Further, in the latter two tasks targets were located most quickly when they were adjacent to or opposite the imagined orientation. Several explanations of this finding were tested. Various aspects of the data suggest that cognitive maps are not strictly holistic, but consist of orientation-specific representations, and—at least in part—of relational propositions specific to object pairs.

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^☆: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant BNS 76-01830.

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Orientation in cognitive maps☆

Abstract

Cortex

Cognitive Science

Cognitive Psychology

Styles and methods of structuring a city

Environment and Behavior

Representation of physical space

The visual world behind the head

American Journal of Psychology

Reverse illusions of orientation

Psychological Review

Spatial integrations in a human maze

University of California Publications in Psychology

Memory for urban geography

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

Mental rotation and the frame of reference in blind and sighted individuals

Perception and Psychophysics

Chronometric studies of the rotation of mental images

The time required to prepare for a rotated stimulus

Memory and Cognition

Mental rotation under head tilt: Factors influencing the location of the subjective reference frame

Perception and Psychophysics

Environmental cognition

Psychological Bulletin

The content and manipulation of cognitive maps in children and adults

Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development

The development of spatial cognition: A review