ERIC Number: EJ1433902
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Jul
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: EISSN-1939-1285
No Evidence for Chunking in Spatial Memory of Route Experience
Jesse Q. Sargent; Lauren L. Richmond; Devin M. Kellis; Maverick E. Smith; Jeffrey M. Zacks
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v50 n7 p1013-1034 2024
Spatial memory is important for supporting the successful completion of everyday activities and is a particularly vulnerable domain in late life. Grouping items together in memory, or chunking, can improve spatial memory performance. In memory for desktop scale spaces and well-learned large-scale environments, error patterns suggest that information is chunked in memory. However, the chunking mechanisms involved in learning new large-scale, navigable environments are poorly understood. In five experiments, two of which included young and older adult samples, participants watched movies depicting routes through building-sized environments while attempting to remember the locations of cued objects. We tested memory for the cued objects with virtual pointing, distance estimation, and map drawing tasks after participants viewed each route. Patterns of error failed to show consistent evidence of chunking in spatial memory across all experiments. One possibility is that chunking in spatial memory relies on visual perceptual grouping mechanisms that are not in play during encoding of large-scale spaces encountered through extended route experiences that do not afford concurrent viewing of target locations.
Descriptors: Spatial Ability, Memory, Cognitive Processes, Aging (Individuals), Cues, Error Patterns, Visual Perception
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute on Aging (NIA) (DHHS/NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: R21AG041419
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/kch9z