Spatial updating of map-acquired representation

Abstract

In the present study, we examined whether people can update a map-acquired spatial representation. The participants learned a spatial layout from a map displayed on a computer screen, and then performed spatial judgments at a novel position either in the same room (Exp. 1) or in a distal room (Exp. 2). They were required to imagine the spatial layout from a perspective aligned with the learning direction, aligned with their facing direction during testing, or toward a novel direction misaligned with the two directions mentioned above. In both the immediate and nonimmediate environments, the participants performed better from the learning direction than from the novel direction, and also performed better from the facing direction than from the novel direction. These results reveal that people establish an orientation-specific spatial representation through map learning, and that they can update a map-acquired representation during locomotion.