Action compatibility in spatial knowledge developed through virtual navigation

Action-compatibility effects (ACEs) arise due to incongruity between perceptuo-motor traces stored in memory and the perceptuo-motor demands of a retrieval task. Recent research has suggested that ACEs arising during spatial memory retrieval are additionally modulated by individual differences in how experienced participants are with a college campus environment. However, the extent and nature of experience with a real-world environment is difficult to assess and control, and characteristics of the retrieval task itself might modulate ACEs during spatial memory retrieval. The present study provides a more controlled and in-depth examination of how individual differences and task-based factors interact to shape ACEs when participants retrieve spatial memories. In two experiments, participants with varied video game experience learned a virtual environment and then used the computer mouse to verify spatial relationships from different perspectives. Mouse trajectories demonstrated ACEs, differing by retrieval perspective and video game experience. Videogame experts demonstrated the ACE based on learned spatial relationships during egocentric retrieval only, whereas videogame novices showed the ACE based on semantic processing of directional terms only. Specifically, gaming experts invoke perspective-specific perceptuo-motor associations to retrieve spatial knowledge, whereas non-experts are influenced by semantically based associations specific to the retrieval task. Results are discussed in the context of action-compatibility effects, the intentional weighting hypothesis, and the flexible encoding and retrieval of spatial information.