How Frames of Reference Prime Spatial Memory

This study examined priming spatial memory by frames of reference. Participants verified verbal descriptions of scenes which depicted spatial relations among objects. The intrinsic and relative frames of reference were used in the descriptions with varying degrees of veridicality. Descriptions in the two reference frames could either be equally distributed in terms of validity (50:50 ratio of true vs. false description) or were biased towards one of the two spatial frames. Participants were found to be sensitive not only to the spatial frame prime at the lower level of individual descriptions but also at the more global level of overall reliability of the two descriptive schemas. These findings provide direct evidence that spatial frames of reference can influence spatial memory and that this influence depends on how frequently a frame of reference is associated with valid and reliable information.