Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

The metrics of spatial situation models

M Rinck1, A Hähnel, G H Bower

  • 1Technical University of Dresden, Federal Republic of Germany. rinck@rcs.urz.tu-dresden.de

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition
|May 1, 1997
PubMed
Summary

Readers find objects in narrative situation models more accessible when they are spatially closer. This accessibility decreases with greater spatial or categorical distance, though Euclidean distance can be used when needed.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Anhedonia as a Transdiagnostic Symptom Across Psychological Disorders: A Network Approach.

Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing)·2025
Same author

Anhedonia as a transdiagnostic symptom across psychological disorders: a network approach.

Psychological medicine·2022
Same author

Attentional bias, craving and cannabis use in an inpatient sample of adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cannabis use disorder: The moderating role of cognitive control.

Addictive behaviors·2019
Same author

National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic.

The Hospital·2018
Same author

[Not Available].

Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al]·2016
Same author

Selective attention and fear of cancer recurrence in breast cancer survivors.

Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine·2014

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Psycholinguistics
  • Spatial Cognition

Background:

  • Understanding how readers mentally represent spatial information in narratives is crucial for theories of comprehension.
  • Previous research suggests spatial arrangements influence mental model accessibility.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of spatial distance in the accessibility of information within narrative situation models.
  • To determine whether spatial distance effects are categorical or Euclidean.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments were conducted involving participants reading narratives.
  • Accessibility of objects within the narrative's situation model was measured.
  • Spatial and categorical distances between objects and the reader's focus were manipulated.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • A spatial gradient of accessibility was observed, decreasing with distance from the focus.
  • Spatial distance effects were primarily categorical (number of intervening rooms), not Euclidean.
  • Participants could utilize Euclidean distance information for secondary tasks when required.

Conclusions:

  • Narrative comprehension involves building situation models where accessibility is distance-dependent.
  • Findings support categorical representations of space in situation models over purely Euclidean ones.
  • The ability to switch between representation types has implications for spatial memory theories.