Abstract
Methods of evaluating adult spatial memory performance were examined in two spatial memory tasks. Displacement scores were shown to exhibit mathematical difficulties. A comparison was made of several measures of spatial memory performance that are mathematically adequate for parametric analysis. These were found to correlate with each other at very high levels. It was concluded that, provided the measure used in any given study of spatial memory satisfies the assumptions on which the statistics to be used are predicated, a variety of satisfactory measures of spatial memory can be employed, and that the criterion as to which should be used may depend primarily upon considerations germaine to the specific research problem at hand.
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This research was supported in part by a grant from the Intermountain West Long-Term Gerontology Center; that support is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also wish to thank Phyllis Parrish and the staff and residents of the Golden West Manor, Boulder, Colorado, and Sue Erwin and the volunteers and staff of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, for their help and participation in this research.
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Sharps, M.J., Gollin, E.S. Methods of evaluating performance on spatial memory tasks. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 24, 18–20 (1986). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330491
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330491