Egocentric reference frames in memory

描述（由申请人提供）：感知和心理上代表的物体和地点的位置在一个人的直接环境是一个基本的先决条件，以大多数人类行为。由于位置只能在参照系中或通过参照系来确定，因此对感知和记忆中所使用的参照系的科学研究已成为当代空间认知研究的一个极其重要的领域。在过去的十年中，几条研究路线已经会聚到表明自我中心参考系统的重要性（即，相对于观察者编码位置的那些，使得位置与身体的组织相关联）。当人们记住周围环境中不同物体的位置时，自我中心的参照系统尤其有影响力。 考虑到自我中心的参考系统在对象布局记忆中的重要性，令人惊讶的是，现有的研究几乎没有更精确地理解这种编码系统的性质。特别是，它是未知的，其中三个可能的基地为自我中心的参考系统（视网膜为基础，头部为基础，身体为基础）占主导地位的空间编码的内存。本研究将更密切地研究这个问题，确定自我中心编码的主导基础，以及学习和测试环境的性质改变各种自我中心参考系统的影响的程度。该项目的完成将使人们更清楚地了解人类如何在记忆中编码空间信息。这项基础研究将对空间认知的计算模型产生直接影响，并深入了解无法获得某些参考系统的感觉基础的人群（如盲人和截瘫患者）可能有效地使用其他系统来记住空间信息的程度。研究结果也可能导致提高一般人群的空间能力的方法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Perceiving and mentally representing the locations of objects and places in one's immediate environment is a fundamental prerequisite to most of human behavior. Because locations can be specified only in and through a reference system, the scientific investigation of the reference systems used in perception and memory has become an extremely important area of contemporary research in spatial cognition. In the last decade, several lines of research have converged to suggest the importance of egocentric reference systems (i.e., those that code locations relative to the observer, such that places are linked to the organization of the body). Egocentric reference systems are particularly influential when people remember the locations of different objects in their immediate environment. Given the importance of egocentric reference systems in memories of object layouts, it is surprising that existing research has done little to understand more precisely the nature of this coding system. In particular, it is unknown which among three possible bases for an egocentric reference system (retina-based, head-based, and body-based) dominates spatial coding in memory. This research will examine this issue more closely, determining both the dominant bases for egocentric coding and the degree to which the influences of various egocentric reference systems are altered by the nature of the learning and testing environments. Completion of the project will lead to a clearer understanding of how humans encode spatial information in memory. This basic research will have immediate implications for computational models of spatial cognition as well as offering insight into the degree to which populations that do not have access to the sensory bases for certain reference systems (such as the blind and paraplegic) may productively use other systems in order to remember spatial information. Findings may also lead to ways of improving spatial abilities in the general population.