Describing places: what strategies are used?

Two experiments examined the role of individual differences and of spatial organisation of items in the choice of strategy used in describing environments from memory. The three environments presented in slides had different spatial layouts: a linear order (the river), the complete absence of a linear order (the market), and a mixture of the two (the square). Experiment 1 assessed whether two groups of subjects who differed for the use of rotation in a mental rotation task "Rotators" and "Jumpers"), would also use different strategies (either "Tour" or "Jump") in describing an environment. Results showed that spatial organisation had a strong effect on the choice of strategy, but individual differences were also present. Strategy stability was then examined in Experiment 2 by repeating the description three times. The relevant effect of item spatial organisation on strategy choice was again found, but limited to "new" material, i.e. to the first presentation, while the Tour strategy appeared from trial two. Results are interpreted in terms of the role of the cognitive load the material imposes on short-term memory, explaining the effect of spatial layout, as well as individual differences. This explanation is also compatible with the observed predominance of the Tour strategy, especially when material is well known.