ABSTRACT

This study employed an information accumulation model of choice reaction times to investigate alignment effects in mental representations of maps. University students studied a map from a single orientation (with north at the top). In a subsequent two-choice reaction time task, the students’ spatial knowledge of the map was assessed employing spatial left/right judgments, which were made from imagined perspectives that were either north-aligned or south-aligned. Data showed a standard alignment effect, favoring north- over south-aligned trials. To examine the locus of this effect, data were fit using the Linear Ballistic Accumulator (LBA) model of speeded decisions (Brown & Heathcote, 2008). Of interest were three model parameters: drift rate, the speed at which evidence accumulates toward a response; response threshold, the amount of evidence demanded from the decision maker before selecting a response; and non-decision time, the time consumed by pre- and postdecisional processes. The best-fitting model suggested that non-decision time accounted for the alignment effect. The difference in non-decision time between north and south-aligned judgments suggests a mental alignment stage on south-aligned trials, accounting for the longer reaction times for judgements misaligned with the presented north orientation of the map.

摘要

这项研究采用了选择反应时间的信息积累模型来研究地图心理表征中的对齐效果。大学生从单一方向（顶部在北）研究地图。在随后的二选一反应时间任务中，使用左/右空间判断来评估学生对地图的空间知识，该判断是从向北或向南的想象角度做出的。数据显示出标准的对准效应，有利于北向南对准试验。为了检查这种影响的根源，使用快速决策的线性弹道累加器（LBA）模型对数据进行拟合（Brown和Heathcote，2008年）。感兴趣的是三个模型参数：漂移率，证据朝着响应积累的速度；响应阈值，即选择响应之前决策者要求的证据数量；和非决策时间，时间消耗的售前和postdecisional过程。最佳拟合模型表明，非决策时间是对齐效果的原因。北对齐和南对齐的判断在非决策时间上的差异表明，在南对齐试验中处于心理对齐阶段，这说明判断与地图的北向不对齐的判断的反应时间更长。