The long-term goal of this line of research is to understand how the spatial structure of the environment is represented in memory, and how remembered spatial relations are used to guide action in space. We are particularly interested in determining the spatial frames of reference used by human memory systems to represent the locations of objects in the environment. This research has led to investigations of the relation between object and scene recognition, apparent rotational motion, and the acquisition of spatial representations from nonvisual information, such as verbal descriptions and manual reconstructions. We have been studying these problems using multi-object scenes (example scene), multi-location spatial arrays (example array), and room-sized spaces (example layout).
Some recent papers and reports include:
Blevins, W. A. (1997). Object recognition using a radial basis neural network with a rotation mechanism. Technical Report, Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University.
Diwadkar, V. A., & McNamara, T. P. (1997). Viewpoint dependence in scene recognition. Psychological Science, 8, 302-307.
Shelton, A. L., & McNamara, T. P. (1997). Multiple views of spatial memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 4, 102-106.
Roskos-Ewoldsen, B., McNamara, T. P., Shelton, A. L., & Carr, W. S. (1998). Mental representations of large and small spatial layouts are orientation dependent. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 24, 215-226.
Shelton, A. L., & McNamara, T. P. (2001). Systems of spatial reference in human memory [PDF]. Cognitive Psychology, 43, 274-310.
Shelton, A. L., & McNamara, T. P. (2001). Visual memories from nonvisual experiences. Psychological Science, 12, 343-347. (Figure 1, Figure 2A, Figure 2B).
Mou, W., & McNamara, T. P. (2002). Intrinsic frames of reference in spatial memory [PDF]. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 28, 162-170.
McNamara, T. P. (2003). How are the locations of objects in the environment represented in memory? [PDF]. In C. Freksa, W. Brauer, C. Habel, & K. Wender (Eds.), Spatial cognition III: Routes and navigation, human memory and learning, spatial representation and spatial reasoning (pp. 174-191). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Valiquette, C. M., McNamara, T. P., & Smith, K. (2003). Locomotion, incidental learning, and the selection of spatial reference systems. Memory & Cognition, 31, 479-489.
McNamara, T. P., Rump, B., & Werner, S. (in press). Egocentric and geocentric frames of reference in memory of large-scale space [.SIT]. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.
McNamara, T. P., & Shelton, A. L. (in press). Cognitive maps and the hippocampus [PDF]. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
Mou, W., McNamara, T. P., Valiquette, C. M., & Rump, B. (in press). Allocentric and egocentric updating of spatial memories [PDF]. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.
Shelton, A. L., & McNamara, T. P. (2003). Spatial memory and perspective taking. Manuscript under revision.
Shelton, A. L., & McNamara, T. P. (2003). Orientation and perspective dependence in route and survey learning. Accepted pending revisions, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.
McNamara, T. P., Diwadkar, V. A., Blevins, W. A., & Valiquette, C. M. (2003). Representations of apparent rotation. Manuscript under revision. (Figure 1).
In another line of research, we have been studying higher level processes in encoding and retrieval from spatial memories. In particular, we have examined whether spatial memory satisfies formal metric constraints, such as the metric axioms. We, among others, have demonstrated that estimates of distance using spatial memory systematically violate the axiom of symmetry. In a recent paper we reported on a series of experiments in which we probed the nature of these asymmetries, evaluated the ability of extant models (e.g., Holman, 1979; Nosofsky, 1991) to account for them, and proposed an alternative model of why spatial estimation may be asymmetric.
McNamara, T. P., & Diwadkar, V. A. (1997). Symmetry and asymmetry of human spatial memory. Cognitive Psychology, 34, 160-190.
For more information on some of our ongoing projects contact:
