THE EFFECT OF VISUAL CONTEXT ON MANUAL LOCALIZATION OF REMEMBERED TARGETS

THIS paper examines the contribution of egocentric cues and visual con text to manual localization of remembered targets. Subjects pointed in the dark to the remembered position of a target previously viewed wit hout or within a structured visual scene. Without a remembered visual context, subjects pointed to within 2 degrees of the target. The prese nce of a visual context with cues of straight ahead enhanced pointing performance to the remembered location of central but not off-center t argets. Thus, visual context provides strong visual cues of target pos ition and the relationship of body position to target location. Withou t a visual context, egocentric cues provide sufficient input for accur ate pointing to remembered targets.