M. Rinck et al., THE METRICS OF SPATIAL SITUATION MODELS, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition, 23(3), 1997, pp. 622-637
The authors investigated the metrics of spatial distance represented i
n situation models of narratives, In 3 experiments, a spatial gradient
of accessibility in situation model was observed: The accessibility o
f objects contained in the situation model decreased with increasing s
patial distance between tile Object and the reader's focus of attentio
n. The first 2 experiments demonstrated that this effect of spatial di
stance was purely categorical rather than Euclidean: Accessibility dep
ended on the number of rooms located between the object and the focus
of attention, not on the size of the rooms. Experiment 3 revealed, ho
sever, that participants were able to use information about Euclidean
distance in a secondary task when necessary. The implications of these
results for theories of narrative comprehension and hierarchical vers
us nonhierarchical theories of spatial memory are discussed.