Direction information is more influential than distance information in memory for location relative to landmarks

ABSTRACT Our results suggest that direction information is more influential than distance information in memory for the locations of objects relative to landmarks. Participants viewed target objects in conjunction with pairs of landmarks and then attempted to place the targets in the correct locations relative to the landmarks. The locations of the landmarks at test were slightly different from their locations at study. This dissociated the locations in which the targets would be placed if they were remembered solely on the basis of distance and direction, respectively. Participants placed the targets closer to the “direction-predicted” locations than to the “distance-predicted” locations.