Allocentric coding of object-to-object relations in overlearned and novel environments

R. F. Wang and E. S. Spelke's (2000) finding that disorientation disrupts knowledge is consistent with egocentric but not allocentric coding of object location. The present experiments tested the hypothesis that egocentric coding may dominate early on but that once an allocentric representation is established, then target location is retrieved from it. This hypothesis predicts that disorientation will disrupt configuration knowledge in a novel environment, such as that used by Wang and Spelke, but not in an overlearned environment. Experiments 1 and 2 tested whether disorientation disrupted configuration knowledge of an overlearned environment, and Experiments 3-7 tested whether disorientation disrupted configuration knowledge of a novel, room-sized environment. In none of the experiments did disorientation disrupt configuration knowledge. Hence, in addition to showing allocentric coding of overlearned interlandmark relations, the present findings are consistent with the immediate availability of allocentric location codes in a novel, room-sized environment.