Language and the Localization of Objects in Space

摘要

This research investigated people's ability to recognize configurations in space from different points of view under both uni- and multi-tasking conditions. Past research suggested that people might perform this kind of problem solving using either mental rotation or covert verbal descriptions. We hypothesized that use of these two strategies might depend on the verbal discriminability of the spatial scene. We also hypothesized that the strategy chosen might depend on the performance of a concurrent task. Specifically, in attempting to reduce processing interference, we predicted that people would be more likely to use mental rotation when the concurrent task they were involved in was verbal rather than spatial; conversely, they would be more likely to use verbal descriptions when the concurrent task was spatial rather than verbal. These hypotheses were supported in a series of experiments in which we measured people's time to decide whether spatial configurations displayed from different perspectives were the same or different, while they perspectives various types of concurrent tasks.