Presentation Master's Thesis - Louisa Mobs - Brain & cognition

Spatial memory is a vital aspect of human cognition and a prominent topic in cognitive and neuroscience research. This study aimed to investigate whether guided vs non guided navigation instructions on spatial working memory tasks improve spatial-memory performance. Furthermore, as mental rotation ability is found to be linked to spatial ability, this study examined participants mental rotation performance to replicate Ganis and Kievits (2015) findings and to test whether spatial-memory performance is linked to higher mental rotation. Twenty-two participants were tested on their visuo-spatial-working-memory (VSWM) ability, using the established Corsi Block Tapping Task (CBTT), posing as the unguided navigation condition and the newly developed Landmark Tapping Task (LTT) posing as the guided navigation condition. Also, the Mental Rotation Task (MRT) was administered. The block spans of the CBTT and LTT as well as the reaction times (RT) and accuracy scores of the MRT were measured. Contrary to the hypothesis the block span in the LTT was lower than in the CBTT. The findings of the MRT measurements were replicated with increasing reaction time (RT) and decreasing accuracy scores over the four angular disparities of the stimuli. Finally, there was no correlation found between the accuracy scores and span between the LTT and the CBTT or the MRT, thus no inferences about heightened spatial-memory performance and mental rotation can be made. In conclusion, the LTT needs to be refined more and to add to the ongoing academic debate within the domain of spatial ability, alternative spatial-memory strategy assessments, integrating neurological and behavioural data, should be explored.