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Updated: Jan 13, 2026

The Spatial Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition
Published on: February 19, 2018
Spatial perspective taking is distinct from cognitive and affective perspective taking
Maria Brucato1, Nora S Newcombe1, Jason Chein1
1Department of Psychology, Temple University.
None:
Perspective taking (PT) is the ability to imagine viewpoints different from our own. However, the nature of PT as a construct and its underlying cognitive mechanisms are not well established. Some researchers propose that understanding what others believe (cognitive PT), feel (affective PT), and see (spatial PT) forms a single behavioral dimension, relying on the orienting of attention between competing frame-of-reference representations. Others propose that PT mechanisms are dissociable, although there are three different proposals about such dissociations. The present study examined behavioral associations among measures of spatial, cognitive, and affective PT and attentional control in neurotypical young adults. There was a lack of convergent validity for measures of cognitive and affective PT, pointing to the need for more psychometric work on these dimensions. Much better convergence was found for spatial PT measures. There was little to no behavioral association between spatial PT and either social form of PT (cognitive or affective) or attentional control measures. This pattern suggests support for a dissociated model in which spatial PT is a distinct cognitive construct. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
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