May Mark
Institute for Cognitive Research, Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg, University of the Armed Forces, Holstenhofweg 85, 22043 Hamburg, Germany.
Psychol Res. 2007 May;71(3):277-87. doi: 10.1007/s00426-006-0083-1. Epub 2006 Sep 7.
Two experiments examined spatial knowledge access after imagined perspective switches in everyday environments. Blindfolded volunteers had to point to target objects in a well-known surrounding while imagining being repositioned into different spatial perspectives defined as self-rotations of the observer in the horizontal plane (0 degrees , 45 degrees , and 135 degrees ). Testing was either conducted in the space the target locations had been learned in (actual room testing), or while participants were away from this room, but should imagine being situated there (remote room testing). Experiment 1, in which perspective switches were tested on a trial-to-trial basis, revealed increases in pointing latency and error as a function of the amount of angular disparity between real and imagined perspective under actual and remote room conditions. Experiment 2, in which knowledge access was tested in blocks of multiple trials per perspective, showed increases in pointing latency with angular disparity for actual space testing, and to a much lesser degree for remote space testing. Implications of both findings for theoretical accounts of knowledge access after imaginal perspective switches are discussed, and recommendations for using different testing methods and settings are given.
两项实验研究了在日常环境中想象视角转换后的空间知识获取情况。蒙眼志愿者必须在一个熟悉的环境中指向目标物体，同时想象自己被重新定位到不同的空间视角，这些视角被定义为观察者在水平面上的自我旋转（0度、45度和135度）。测试要么在学习目标位置的空间中进行（实际房间测试），要么在参与者离开这个房间时进行，但他们应该想象自己身处那里（远程房间测试）。实验1在每次试验的基础上测试视角转换，结果显示在实际房间和远程房间条件下，指向潜伏期和误差随着真实视角与想象视角之间的角度差异量而增加。实验2在每个视角的多个试验块中测试知识获取，结果显示在实际空间测试中，指向潜伏期随着角度差异而增加，而在远程空间测试中增加的程度要小得多。讨论了这两项发现对想象视角转换后知识获取理论解释的影响，并给出了使用不同测试方法和设置的建议。
