Turns during navigation act as boundaries that enhance spatial memory and expand time estimation

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Spatial Navigation

Background:

• Continuous experience is segmented into events using physical and conceptual boundaries.
• Understanding how navigation influences memory and temporal perception is crucial for cognitive science.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of turns in travelled routes as subjective boundaries.
• To examine the impact of turns on memory recollection and temporal experience during navigation.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted involving participants navigating routes.
• Memory for locations before, during, and after turns was assessed.
• Subjective time perception at different route segments was measured in the second experiment.

Main Results:

• Turns significantly enhanced subjective recollection of immediately preceding locations.
• Locations in the middle of straightaways or immediately after turns were recalled less effectively.
• Experiment 2 showed a subjective expansion of time spent at pre-turn locations compared to post-turn locations.

Conclusions:

• Turns along travelled routes function as event boundaries, enhancing memory for preceding information.
• This suggests a connection between subjective episodic re-experiencing and temporal memory during navigation.
• Navigation turns influence memory and temporal processing, similar to other event boundaries.