Abstract
Two experiments using an immersive virtual reality foraging environment determined the spatial strategies spontaneously deployed by people in a foraging task and the effects on immediate serial recall of trajectories though the foraging space, which could conform or violate specific organisational constraints. People benefitted from the use of organised search patterns when attempting to monitor their travel though either a clustered “patchy” space or a matrix of locations. The results are discussed within a comparative framework.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Avons SE (2007) Spatial span under translation: a study of reference frames. Mem Cognit 35:402–417
Baddeley AD (2003) Working memory: looking back and looking forward. Nat Rev Neurosci 4(10):829–839
Bor D, Duncan J, Wiseman RJ, Owen AM (2003) Encoding strategies dissociate prefrontal activity from working memory demand. Neuron 37:361–367
Corsi PM (1972) Human memory and the medial temporal region of the brain. Dissertation. Abstracts International, 34(02), 891B (University microfilms No. AA105-77717)
Cowan N (2005) Working memory capacity. Psychology Press, New York
Cramer AC, Gallistel CR (1997) Vervet monkeys as travelling salesmen. Nature 387:464
De Lillo C (2004) Imposing structure on a Corsi-type task: evidence for hierarchical organisation based on spatial proximity in serial-spatial memory. Brain Cogn 55:415–426
De Lillo C (2012) The use of spatial structure in working memory: a comparative standpoint. In: McFarland D, McGonigle M, Stenning K (eds) The complex mind. Palgrave McMillan, Basingstoke
De Lillo C, Lesk V (2010) Spatial clustering and hierarchical coding in immediate serial recall. Eur J Cognit Psychol 22(2):216–246
De Lillo C, Visalberghi E, Aversano M (1997) The organisation of exhaustive searches in a patchy space by capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). J Comp Psychol 111(1):82–90
De Lillo C, Spinozzi G, Palumbo M, Giustino G (2011) Attention allocation modulates the processing of hierarchical visual patterns: a comparative analysis of capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and humans. J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process 37(3):341–352
Fagot J, De Lillo C (2011) A comparative study of working memory: immediate serial recall in baboons (Papio papio) and humans. Neuropsychologia 49:3870–3880
Fagot J, Deruelle C (1997) Processing of global and local visual information and hemispheric specialization in humans (Homo sapiens) and baboons (Papio papio). J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 23:429–442
Spinozzi G, De Lillo C, Truppa V, Castorina G (2009) The relative use of proximity, shape similarity and orientation as visual perceptual grouping cues in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and humans (Homo sapiens). J Comp Psychol 123(1):56–68
Valsecchi P, Bartolomucci A, Aversano M, Visalberghi E (2000) Learning to cope with two different food distributions: the performance of house mice (Mus musculus). J Comp Psychol 114:272–280
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge financial support from Capital Investment Fund grant “Visual, spatial and motor cognition in virtual reality, computer generated and other realistic environments” and Nuffield Foundation URB/39517; and technical support from Kevin McCracken.
Conflict of interest
This supplement was not sponsored by outside commercial interests. It was funded entirely by ECONA, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185 Roma, Italy.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
De Lillo, C., James, F.C. Spatial working memory for clustered and linear configurations of sites in a virtual reality foraging task. Cogn Process 13 (Suppl 1), 243–246 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-012-0448-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-012-0448-x