Was the fruit in front of me or near the river? Biological relevance and reference frame preferences in object-location memory across the lifespan
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22420476 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Silvia Serino (0000-0002-8422-1358, University of Milano-Bicocca, corresponding author), Giuseppe Riva (0000-0003-3657-106X, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), Claudia Repetto (0000-0001-8365-7697, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), Karine Marie Goulene, Karine Goulene (IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano), Marco Stramba-Badiale (IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano), Cosimo Tuena (0000-0002-2039-9202, Università degli Studi eCampus) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Publication date | 2026-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1069-9384 • E-ISSN: 1531-5320 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.3758/s13423-026-02961-0 |
| PMID | 42469551 |
| OpenAlex | W7169601387 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 58 |
Spatial memory research has traditionally focused on how environmental features shape the use of egocentric and allocentric reference frames, with little attention to the role of the objects themselves. Here, using two datasets collected with a virtual reality object-location memory task, we investigated whether the biological relevance of objects modulates spatial memory performance depending on the reference frame used at retrieval. Participants encoded the positions of biological entities and artifacts and retrieved them using either egocentric or allocentric recall cues. In Study 1, young adults ( N = 37) showed a significant interaction between object category and recall cue: biological entities were recalled more accurately under allocentric than egocentric retrieval, while artifacts showed the opposite pattern, though the category difference was significant only under allocentric retrieval. In Study 2, older adults and patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment ( N = 80) showed a preserved biological advantage in overall spatial performance, whereas the interaction with recall cue was no longer observed, a pattern consistent with the reduced allocentric contribution typically associated with aging. These findings provide initial evidence that object categories may shape the retrieval of spatial locations.
Cognition · Frame of reference · Recall · Reference frame · Spatial cognition · Memory and Neural Mechanisms · Spatial Cognition and Navigation · Spatial Neglect and Hemispheric Dysfunction
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |