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Goal-Directed Effects on Processing a Spatial Environment

Indications from Memory and Language

  • Chapter
Spatial Language

Abstract

When remembering or describing an environment, do people take a particular spatial perspective? If so, what influences the perspective used? Previous research has focused primarily on the correspondence between the perspective presented through the learning medium, either a map or navigation, and the perspective used in memory. We find that how spatial information is learned is not the only influence on spatial perspective in memory. Why people learn the spatial information, i.e. their spatial goal, also influences memory perspective. Effects of spatial goal were seen in both memory and language assessments of spatial perspective. Additionally, memory and language tasks have differential reliance on perspective information. Task demands also played a role in performance as learning condition and spatial goal had different influences on different tasks. Present models of spatial perspective do not account for these multiple influences on the representation of spatial perspective.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA

    Holly A. Taylor & Susan J. Naylor

Authors
  1. Holly A. Taylor
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  2. Susan J. Naylor
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Thinking and Language, Department of Psychology, University of Plymouth, UK

    Kenny R. Coventry

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of York, UK

    Patrick Olivier

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© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Taylor, H.A., Naylor, S.J. (2002). Goal-Directed Effects on Processing a Spatial Environment. In: Coventry, K.R., Olivier, P. (eds) Spatial Language. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9928-3_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9928-3_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5910-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-015-9928-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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