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Spatial memory
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==Measurement== There are a variety of tasks psychologists use to measure spatial memory on adults, children and animal models. These tasks allow professionals to identify cognitive irregularities in adults and children and allows researchers to administer varying types of drugs and/or lesions in participants and measure the consequential effects on spatial memory. ===The Corsi block tapping task=== {{main|Corsi block-tapping test}} The Corsi block-tapping test, also known as the Corsi span rest, is a [[Psychological testing|psychological test]] commonly used to determine the visual-spatial memory span and the implicit visual-spatial learning abilities of an individual.<ref name = "children">{{cite journal | last1 = Mammarella | first1 = I.C. | last2 = Pazzaglia | first2 = F. | last3 = Cornoldi | first3 = C. | year = 2008 | title = Evidence of different components in children's visuospatial working memory | url = https://zenodo.org/record/895277| journal = British Journal of Developmental Psychology | volume = 26 | issue = 3| pages = 337β355 | doi = 10.1348/026151007X236061 | hdl = 11577/2440989 | hdl-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Corsi | first1 = P. M. | year = 1972 | title = Human memory and the medial temporal region of the brain | journal = Dissertation Abstracts International | volume = 34 | issue = 2| page = 891 }}</ref> Participants sit with nine wooden 3x3-cm blocks fastened before them on a 25- x 30-cm baseboard in a standard random order. The experiment taps onto the blocks a sequence pattern which participants must then replicate. The blocks are numbered on the experimenters' side to allow for efficient pattern demonstration. The sequence length increases each trial until the participant is no longer able to replicate the pattern correctly. The test can be used to measure both short-term and long-term spatial memory, depending on the length of time between test and recall. The test was created by [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[Neuropsychology|neuropsychologist]] Phillip Corsi, who modeled it after [[Donald O. Hebb|Hebb's]] [[Memory span|digit span]] task by replacing the numerical test items with spatial ones. On average, most participants achieve a span of five items on the Corsi span test and seven on the digit span task. {{cn|date=March 2025}} ===Visual pattern span=== The visual pattern span is similar to the Corsi block tapping test but regarded as a more pure test of visual short-term recall.<ref>Della Sala, S., Gray, C., Baddeley, A., & Wilson, L. (1997). The Visual Patterns Test: A new test of short-term visual recall. Feltham, Suffolk: Thames Valley Test Company.</ref> Participants are presented with a series of matrix patterns that have half their cells colored and the other half blank. The matrix patterns are arranged in a way that is difficult to code verbally, forcing the participant to rely on visual spatial memory. Beginning with a small 2 x 2 matrix, participants copy the matrix pattern from memory into an empty matrix. The matrix patterns are increased in size and complexity at a rate of two cells until the participant's ability to replicate them breaks down. On average, participants' performance tends to break down at sixteen cells. {{cn|date=March 2025}} ===Pathway span task=== This task is designed to measure spatial memory abilities in children.<ref name = "children" /> The experimenter asks the participant to visualize a blank matrix with a little man. Through a series of directional instructions such as forwards, backwards, left or right, the experimenter guides the participant's little man on a pathway throughout the matrix. At the end, the participant is asked to indicate on a real matrix where the little man that he or she visualized finished. The length of the pathway varies depending on the level of difficulty (1β10) and the matrices themselves may vary in length from 2 x 2 cells to 6 x 6. {{cn|date=March 2025}} ===Dynamic mazes=== Dynamic mazes are intended for measuring spatial ability in children. With this test, an experimenter presents the participant with a drawing of a maze with a picture of a man in the center.<ref name = "children" /> While the participant watches, the experimenter uses his or her finger to trace a pathway from the opening of the maze to the drawing of the man. The participant is then expected to replicate the demonstrated pathway through the maze to the drawing of the man. Mazes vary in complexity as difficulty increases. {{cn|date=March 2025}} ===Radial arm maze=== {{main|Radial arm maze}} [[File:Simple Radial Maze.JPG|thumb|Simple Radial Maze]] First pioneered by Olton and Samuelson in 1976,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Olton | first1 = D.S. | last2 = Samuelson | first2 = R.J. | year = 1976 | title = Remembrance of places past: spatial memory in rats | journal = Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes| volume = 2 | issue = 2| pages = 97β116 | doi = 10.1037/0097-7403.2.2.97 }}</ref> the radial arm maze is designed to test the spatial memory capabilities of rats. Mazes are typically designed with a center platform and a varying number of arms<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Cole | first1 = M.R. | last2 = Chappell-Stephenson | first2 = Robyn| year = 2003 | title = Exploring the limits of spatial memory using very large mazes | journal = [[Learning & Behavior]] | volume = 31 | issue = 4| pages = 349β368 | doi = 10.3758/BF03195996 | pmid = 14733483 | doi-access = free }}</ref> branching off with food placed at the ends. The arms are usually shielded from each other in some way but not to the extent that external cues cannot be used as reference points. {{cn|date=March 2025}} In most cases, the rat is placed in the center of the maze and needs to explore each arm individually to retrieve food while simultaneously remembering which arms it has already pursued. The maze is set up so the rat is forced to return to the center of the maze before pursuing another arm. Measures are usually taken to prevent the rat from using its [[Olfaction|olfactory]] senses to [[Navigation|navigate]] such as placing extra food throughout the bottom of the maze. {{cn|date=March 2025}} ===Morris water navigation task=== {{main|Morris water navigation task}} The Morris water navigation task is a classic test for studying spatial learning and memory in rats<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Morris | first1 = R. G. | year = 1981 | title = Spatial Localization Does Not Require the Presence of Local Cues | journal = Learning and Motivation | volume = 12 | issue = 2| pages = 239β260 | doi = 10.1016/0023-9690(81)90020-5 }}</ref> and was first developed in 1981 by Richard G. Morris for whom the test is named. The subject is placed in a round tank of translucent water with walls that are too high for it to climb out and water that is too deep for it to stand in. The walls of the tank are decorated with visual cues to serve as reference points. The rat must swim around the pool until by chance it discovers just below the surface the hidden platform onto which it can climb. {{cn|date=March 2025}} Typically, rats swim around the edge of the pool first before venturing out into the center in a meandering pattern before stumbling upon the hidden platform. However, as time spent in the pool increases experience, the amount of time needed to locate the platform decreases, with veteran rats swimming directly to the platform almost immediately after being placed in the water. Due to the nature of task involving rats to swim, most researchers believe that habituation is required to decrease the stress levels of the animal. The stress of the animal may impair cognitive testing results.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sharma |first1=Sunita |last2=Rakoczy |first2=Sharlene |last3=Brown-Borg |first3=Holly |title=Assessment of spatial memory in mice |journal=Life Sciences |date=October 2010 |volume=87 |issue=17β18 |pages=521β536 |doi=10.1016/j.lfs.2010.09.004 |pmc=6457258 |pmid=20837032 }}</ref>
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