Age-Related Differences in Spatial Memory

Effects of Structural and Organizational Context

Bibliographic Data

ID10122352
AuthorsKatie E Cherry (0000-0002-2284-9772, Louisiana State University, corresponding author), Martin W Jones (Louisiana State University)
Year1999
Volume126
Issue1
Pages53-73
Publication date1999-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of General Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-1309 • E-ISSN: 1940-0888
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00221309909595351
PMID10216969
OpenAlexW2087377305
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited18

The authors examined effects of structural and organizational spatial context on younger and older adults' memory for an arrangement of dollhouse furniture pieces. For half of the participants, landmark objects (Experiment 1) and a floor plan beneath the array (Experiment 2) served as structural context during study and replacement. Organizational context was varied by grouping items randomly or as 6 rooms in a prototypical house. Two study and replacement trials were given. In Experiment 1, landmark structural cues improved younger adults' performance, whereas both age groups benefited from the floor plan in Experiment 2. In both experiments, positive effects of organizational context and trial occurred. Higher order interactions further revealed that structural and organizational context effects varied in size across trials, suggesting that both age groups used spatial contextual cues more effectively with practice. Implications of these results for current views on cognitive compensation in adulthood are discussed

Cartography · Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Context (archaeology · Context effect · Developmental psychology · Geography · Landmark · Spatial contextual awareness · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Memory and Neural Mechanisms · Neuroscience · Place Attachment and Urban Studies · Psychology · Spatial Cognition and Navigation

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