The role of spatial boundaries in shaping long-term event representations

TY - JOUR

T1 - The role of spatial boundaries in shaping long-term event representations

AU - Horner, Aidan James

AU - Bisby, J. A.

AU - Wang, A

AU - Bogus, K

AU - Burgess, N

N1 - © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2016/9/1

Y1 - 2016/9/1

N2 - When remembering the past, we typically recall ‘events’ that are bounded in time and space. However, as we navigate our environment our senses receive a continuous stream of information. How do we create discrete long-term episodic memories from continuous input? Although previous research has provided evidence for a role of spatial boundaries in the online segmentation of our sensory experience within working memory, it is not known how this segmentation contributes to subsequent long-term episodic memory. Here we show that the presence of a spatial boundary at encoding (a doorway between two rooms) impairs participants’ later ability to remember the order that objects were presented in. A sequence of two objects presented in the same room in a virtual reality environment is more accurately remembered than a sequence of two objects presented in adjoining rooms. The results are captured by a simple model in which items are associated to a context representation that changes gradually over time, and changes more rapidly when crossing a spatial boundary. We therefore provide the first evidence that the structure of long-term episodic memory is shaped by the presence of a spatial boundary and provide constraints on the nature of the interaction between working memory and long-term memory.

AB - When remembering the past, we typically recall ‘events’ that are bounded in time and space. However, as we navigate our environment our senses receive a continuous stream of information. How do we create discrete long-term episodic memories from continuous input? Although previous research has provided evidence for a role of spatial boundaries in the online segmentation of our sensory experience within working memory, it is not known how this segmentation contributes to subsequent long-term episodic memory. Here we show that the presence of a spatial boundary at encoding (a doorway between two rooms) impairs participants’ later ability to remember the order that objects were presented in. A sequence of two objects presented in the same room in a virtual reality environment is more accurately remembered than a sequence of two objects presented in adjoining rooms. The results are captured by a simple model in which items are associated to a context representation that changes gradually over time, and changes more rapidly when crossing a spatial boundary. We therefore provide the first evidence that the structure of long-term episodic memory is shaped by the presence of a spatial boundary and provide constraints on the nature of the interaction between working memory and long-term memory.

KW - Computational modelling

KW - Episodic memory

KW - Event segmentation

KW - Spatial memory

KW - Virtual reality

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84990208286&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.05.013

DO - 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.05.013

M3 - Article

C2 - 27295330

SN - 0010-0277

VL - 154

SP - 151

EP - 164

JO - Cognition

JF - Cognition

ER -