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Updated: Jun 3, 2026
05:39
Generating Strictly Controlled Stimuli for Figure Recognition Experiments
Published on: March 18, 2019
Space constancy vs. shape constancy
Philip M Jaekl1, Laurence R Harris
1Center for Brain and Cognition, Department of Information Technology and Communication, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08018 Barcelona, Spain. phil.jaekl@upf.edu
Seeing and Perceiving
|April 7, 2011
Summary
Spatial memory can distort perceived distances, but this effect is not a general compression. Factors like foveal bias and memory averaging, not object shape, explain these spatial memory distortions.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Spatial constancy, the perception of stable object distances, can fail over time in memory.
- This failure is often attributed to a generalized compression effect in memory, leading to mislocalization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanisms underlying spatial memory distortions.
- To determine if perceived distance compression is a general effect or influenced by specific visual cues and viewing conditions.
Main Methods:
- Participants remembered dot positions, with and without a connecting line, and viewed them centrally or eccentrically.
- Perceived distance changes in memory were measured to assess spatial compression.
Main Results:
- A drift in remembered dot positions (compression) was confirmed.
- No compression of perceived distance occurred when a connecting line was present between dots.
- Eccentric viewing significantly reduced memory compression.
Conclusions:
- Spatial memory distortions result from factors like foveal bias and memory averaging, not a generalized compression of visual space.
- Object shape is not susceptible to the space constancy failures observed in remembered positions.
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