Journal article

Publication year: 1997

Pages: 622-637

Journal: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition

Volume number: 23

Issue number: 3

ISSN: 0278-7393

eISSN: 1939-1285

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.23.3.622

Publisher: American Psychological Association

Abstract: 
The authors investigated the metrics of spatial distance represented in situation models of narratives, In 3 experiments, a spatial gradient of accessibility in situation model was observed: The accessibility of objects contained in the situation model decreased with increasing spatial distance between the object and the reader's focus of attention. The first 2 experiments demonstrated that this effect of spatial distance was purely categorical rather than Euclidean: Accessibility depended on the number of rooms located between the object and the focus of attention, not on the size of the rooms. Experiment 3 revealed, however, that participants were able to use information about Euclidean distance in a secondary task when necessary. The implications of these results for theories of narrative comprehension and hierarchical versus nonhierarchical theories of spatial memory are discussed.

Harvard Citation style: Rinck, M., Hahnel, A., Bower, G. and Glowalla, U. (1997) The metrics of spatial situation models, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 23(3), pp. 622-637. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.23.3.622

APA Citation style: Rinck, M., Hahnel, A., Bower, G., & Glowalla, U. (1997). The metrics of spatial situation models. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 23(3), 622-637. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.23.3.622