Combining Perception and Experience in Spatial Categorization

Two experiments examined how categories derived from experience and those derived from perception affect spatial memory. Four kinds of objects were distributed within a circle and spatially clustered so that all objects of each kind appeared within the same spatial region. These identity-based categories were either aligned with or in opposition to the perceptuallybased quadrant categories that are imposed on the circle by default. When remembering only one object location at a time, participants used only the default categories and not the identity-based categories to reconstruct memories. When remembering four objects simultaneously, participants combined inductive experience with the default category structure to organize space.