Lack of set size effects in spatial updating: Evidence for offline updating

Four experiments required participants to keep track of the locations of (i.e., update) 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 15 target objects after rotating. Across all conditions, updating was unaffected by set size. Although some traditional set size effects (i.e., a linear increase of latency with memory load) were observed under some conditions, these effects were independent of the updating process. Patterns of data and participant strategies were inconsistent with the common view of spatial updating as an online process. Instead, the authors concluded that participants formed enduring, long-term memory representations of the layouts at learning that were used to reconstruct spatial information about the layouts as needed (i.e., offline updating). These results support M. Amorim, S. Glasauer, K. Corpinot, and A. Berthoz's (1997) 2-system model of spatial updating that includes both online and offline updating.