Distance and distraction effects in the apprehension of spatial relations

Theories of the apprehension of spatial relations differ in the predictions they make about the effects of distance between the arguments of spatial relations and the effects of distracting stimuli presented along with the arguments. One theory predicts no effect of distance, another predicts a monotonic increase in reaction time (RT) with distance, and a third predicts a monotonic decrease. Most theories predict slower RTs but reasonable accuracy when distractors are present, but 1 theory predicts chance-level accuracy. These predictions were tested in 3 sentence-picture comparison experiments, in which subjects searched for targets exemplifying the relations above and below. Distance had no effect when no distractors were present. Distractors slowed RT but did not reduce accuracy to chance levels. These results suggest modifications to many of the theories of apprehension.