Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition

Publisher

American Psychological Association

Publication Date

2-7-2011

First Page

621

Last Page

634

Issue Number

3

Volume Number

37

Abstract/ Summary

This research examined whether visual and haptic map learning yield functionally equivalent spatial images in working memory, as evidenced by similar encoding bias and updating performance. In 3 experiments, participants learned 4-point routes either by seeing or feeling the maps. At test, blindfolded participants made spatial judgments about the maps from imagined perspectives that were either aligned or misaligned with the maps as represented in working memory. Results from Experiments 1 and 2 revealed a highly similar pattern of latencies and errors between visual and haptic conditions. These findings extend the well-known alignment biases for visual map learning to haptic map learning, provide further evidence of haptic updating, and most important, show that learning from the 2 modalities yields very similar performance across all conditions. Experiment 3 found the same encoding biases and updating performance with blind individuals, demonstrating that functional equivalence cannot be due to visual recoding and is consistent with an amodal hypothesis of spatial images.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Giudice, N.A., Betty, M.R., & Loomis, J.M. (2011). Functional Equivalence of Spatial Images from Touch and Vision: Evidence from Spatial Updating in Blind and Sighted Individuals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 37(3), 621-634.

Publisher Statement

© 2011 American Psychological Association

DOI

10.1037/a0022331

Version

publisher's version of the published document

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