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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

A Real-world What-Where-When Memory Test
Published on: May 16, 2017
Are space and time automatically integrated in episodic memory?
Marieke van Asselen1, Rob H J Van der Lubbe, Albert Postma
1Psychological Laboratory, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
The aim of the present study was to determine to what extent spatial and temporal features are automatically integrated during encoding in episodic memory. Both nameable and non-nameable stimuli were presented sequentially at different locations on a computer screen. Mixed and pure blocks of trials were used. In the mixed blocks participants were instructed to focus either on the spatial or the temporal order of the objects, as on the majority of the trials recall of this feature was tested (expected trials). However, on a few trials participants had to reproduce the other feature (unexpected trials). In the pure blocks either the spatial or the temporal order of the objects was tested on all trials. More errors were made on unexpected than on expected trials of the mixed blocks. Moreover, no primacy or recency effects were found when performance on the spatial task was plotted as a function of the temporal position. These results suggest that spatial information and temporal order information rely on separate encoding processes.
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