Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2026
05:15
The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition
Published on: February 19, 2018
Spatial proximity and scene grammar: shaping spatial representations for memory-guided actions in naturalistic
Bianca R Baltaretu1, Melissa L-H Võ2,3, Katja Fiehler4
1Department of Experimental Psychology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Strasse 10F, 35394, Giessen, Hesse, Germany. b.baltaretu@gmail.com.
Scientific Reports
|May 21, 2026
Summary
Spatial proximity, not semantic meaning, dominates how we remember object locations in virtual environments. This finding is crucial for understanding spatial memory and navigation in complex scenes.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Spatial Cognition
- Virtual Reality Research
Background:
- Effective goal-directed actions rely on spatial object representations, which can be egocentric or allocentric.
- Allocentric coding, crucial for navigating environments, is influenced by spatial factors like landmark proximity and cognitive factors such as object semantics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interplay of spatial and cognitive factors in allocentric coding within naturalistic environments.
- To determine the relative influence of landmark proximity versus object semantics on spatial memory in a virtual reality setting.
Main Methods:
- A memory-guided virtual reality (VR) experiment was conducted.
- Participants placed targets based on remembered positions after imperceptible anchor shifts.
- Both spatial proximity and semantic congruency between anchors and targets were manipulated.
Main Results:
- Anchors were effectively used to construct spatial target representations.
- Spatial proximity to anchors significantly influenced these representations.
- No significant effect of phrase-level semantic congruency on allocentric coding was observed.
Conclusions:
- Spatial proximity is a dominant factor in allocentric coding in naturalistic virtual scenes.
- Cognitive factors like semantic congruency play a lesser role compared to spatial proximity in this context.
- Findings advance our understanding of spatial memory and navigation mechanisms.
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