Remembering Changes in Direction

Memory forturns of varying angularity encountered during pathway traversal was examined in a within-subjects design. Subjects walked eleven 8.3 m pathways, each containing one turn ranging in size from 150 to 1650 from the direction of forward motion. After each pathway traversalubjects were required to estimate the angle traversed, point to the original direction of travel, and point to the start of the pathway. Results indicated that paths containing angles near 00, 900, and 1800 from the direction of forward motion were the least disorienting and were most accurately remembered. Errors increased as angles diverged from these orthogonal coordinates. The data also revealed a pervasive tendency to estimate all angles as more like 900 than they actually were. Results were discussed in terms of hypothesized orthogonal reference axes that move through space with the observer.