DISTORTIONS AND FLUCTUATIONS IN TOPOGRAPHIC MEMORY

Two experiments dealing with the learning of a space by map or by navi gation approached the questions of equivalency of the cognitive proces ses involved in spatial information and of response fluctuation. In th e first experiment, 11 subjects were asked to situate, six times, 18 l ocations on a blank map. In the second experiment, the subjects were f irst given 3 min to learn a map with 12 locations marked, and then ask ed to reproduce it. The task was repeated six times, using three diffe rent maps. This gave us several trials per subject, so that distortion could be distinguished from response fluctuation. In Experiment 1, th e range of values was the same for response inaccuracy and response fl uctuation; in Experiment 2, the range was greater for response inaccur acy than for response fluctuation. The results showed that space learn ing by navigation and space learning by map involve different cognitiv e processes.