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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 3, 2026

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

Spatial demonstratives and perceptual space: describing and remembering object location.

Kenny R Coventry¹, Debra Griffiths², Colin J Hamilton²

¹School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, UK.

Cognitive Psychology

|January 22, 2014

Summary

Spatial demonstratives like "this" and "that" connect language and spatial memory. Research shows how object location memory influences demonstrative use, suggesting universal constraints on spatial language and representation.

Keywords:

Distance Lexical distinctions Object knowledge Spatial demonstratives Vision and action

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Published on: November 2, 2012

Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Linguistics
Psychology

Background:

Spatial demonstratives (e.g., this, that) are frequent across languages.
Cross-linguistic variations in demonstrative systems challenge universality claims.
Understanding the link between language and spatial cognition is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between English spatial demonstrative usage and non-linguistic memory for object location.
To explore whether parameters affecting demonstrative choice are also reflected in spatial memory.
To identify universal constraints on spatial language and representation.

Main Methods:

Seven experiments were conducted to compare spatial demonstrative use in English with memory for object location.
Participants' choices of demonstratives and their recall of object positions were analyzed.
The influence of factors like distance, ownership, visibility, and familiarity was examined.

Main Results:

Direct parallels were found between English spatial demonstrative usage and memory for object location.
Object location memory is influenced by parameters (distance, ownership, visibility, familiarity) also found in other languages' demonstrative systems.
These findings suggest shared constraints underlying spatial language and non-linguistic spatial representation.

Conclusions:

Spatial language and non-linguistic spatial representation are closely interconnected.
Differences in demonstrative systems may arise from fundamental distinctions in object location memory.
These distinctions form a basis for the development of non-spatial demonstrative uses.