Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Storage

Storage

A schema is a mental framework that helps individuals organize and interpret information. Schemata, formed from previous experiences, influence how we process new information: how we encode it, the inferences we make, and how we retrieve it. For instance, a schema for what a typical classroom looks like might include desks, a teacher's desk, a whiteboard, and students in such an environment. This expectation helps us quickly understand and navigate new classrooms without needing to analyze each...

System of Memory

System of Memory

Memory is categorized into three major systems: sensory memory, short-term memory (STM), and long-term memory (LTM). These systems differ in their capacity and the duration for which they can hold information. Sensory memory captures raw sensory input from the environment, holding it for just a few seconds or less. For example, on hearing a brief, loud sound, like a car horn honking, the sound seems to linger in the mind for a moment even after it stops. This is an instance of sensory memory...

Working Memory

Working Memory

Working memory refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow an individual to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. It is an essential cognitive function that enables the execution of complex tasks such as problem-solving, comprehension, and reasoning. Unlike short-term memory, which simply involves the storage of information for a brief period, working memory involves the active manipulation and processing of this information.

Mnemonic Devices

Mnemonic Devices

Mnemonic devices are cognitive tools that facilitate memory retention by linking new information to familiar patterns or organizational strategies. These techniques are beneficial for remembering complex or lengthy sets of information by simplifying and structuring them in easily retrievable ways.
Acronyms
Acronyms are created by using the initial letters of a series of words to form a new word or phrase. This approach condenses complex information into a single, memorable entity. For example,...

Schemas

Schemas

A schema is a mental construct consisting of a cluster or collection of related concepts (Bartlett, 1932). There are many different types of schemata, and they all have one thing in common: schemata are a method of organizing information that allows the brain to work more efficiently. When a schema is activated, the brain makes immediate assumptions about the person or object being observed.

Long-Term Memory

Long-Term Memory

Long-term memory is a relatively permanent type of memory, capable of storing vast amounts of information over extended periods. Its storage capacity is generally considered unlimited.
Long-term memory can be categorized into two primary types: explicit and implicit memory. Explicit memory, also known as declarative memory, involves the conscious recollection of information that we deliberately try to remember, recall, and articulate. This type of memory encompasses specific facts, events, and...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Distance perception in natural scene images generalize across individuals, tasks, and viewing time.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2025

Same author

Is separation represented in terms of position?

Acta psychologica·2025

Same author

Editorial: Geometrical illusions: what they tell us about human vision in health and disease.

Frontiers in psychology·2024

Same author

How is visual separation assessed? By counting distance units.

Frontiers in psychology·2024

Same author

Super-optimality and relative distance coding in location memory.

Memory & cognition·2024

Same author

Direction and distance information in memory for location relative to landmarks.

Acta psychologica·2023

Same journal

Mind wandering during first- and foreign-language reading.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

Same journal

Lexical word processing is unaffected by rapid invisible frequency tagging in reading: Evidence from eye movements.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

Same journal

Anxiety modulates voluntary attentional orienting to emotional gaze cues: Eye movements for pro- and anti-saccades.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

Same journal

Faster key-press responses to front vowels than back vowels when matching heard vowels with represented vowels.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

Same journal

Testing the interleaving effect without response bias: A forced-choice reevaluation of Kornell and Bjork (2008).

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

Same journal

The impact of social interaction on abstract concepts.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 30, 2026

Assessing Human Spatial Navigation in a Virtual Space and its Sensitivity to Exercise

Assessing Human Spatial Navigation in a Virtual Space and its Sensitivity to Exercise

Published on: January 26, 2024

Dynamic category structure in spatial memory.

Jesse Sargent¹, Stephen Dopkins, John Philbeck

¹Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. jsargent@artsci.wustl.edu

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

|August 3, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study reveals spatial memory bias is egocentric, moving with the observer. This suggests dynamic categorical spatial codes are used for navigation and environmental understanding.

More Related Videos

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

Published on: February 19, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 30, 2026

Assessing Human Spatial Navigation in a Virtual Space and its Sensitivity to Exercise

Assessing Human Spatial Navigation in a Virtual Space and its Sensitivity to Exercise

Published on: January 26, 2024

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

Published on: February 19, 2018

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Neuroscience
Spatial Cognition

Background:

Spatial memory is crucial for navigation.
Understanding the reference frame for spatial memory is key to understanding cognitive processes.
Previous research has shown patterns of bias in spatial memory recall.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether spatial memory bias is egocentric (observer-relative) or allocentric (environment-fixed).
To determine the nature of the reference frame underlying spatial memory bias.

Main Methods:

Participants memorized object locations in a room.
Participants were blindfolded and rotated to different headings.
Participants indicated remembered object locations using a pointer, with angular errors analyzed.

Main Results:

A consistent pattern of angular pointing errors was observed.
The observed bias pattern was egocentric, moving with the participant's orientation.
This indicates a dynamic reference frame is utilized in spatial memory.

Conclusions:

The findings support an egocentric and dynamic reference frame for spatial memory.
Results suggest the involvement of dynamic categorical (nonmetric) spatial codes.
This advances our understanding of how the brain encodes and recalls spatial information.