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Abstract

The theories of situated and embodied cognition have been gaining more and more attention recently. We examined the influence of the current situation (i.e., location and orientation) on accessing spatial memory of locations within ones city of residence. Tu¨bingen residents
produced a simple map of the city centre, by arranging small badges representing well-known locations on a sheet of paper or a computer screen. Participants produced the maps at different locations relative to the city centre (north of, east of, etc.) and in different body orientations
(facing north, east, etc.). We analyzed the orientation of these maps (north up, east up, etc.).We found an influence of location and body orientation on the orientation of the maps. Participants produced maps in the orientation they were facing more often than expected by chance (i.e., produced a north up map when facing north, an east up map when facing east, etc.). Participants also oriented the maps according to their viewpoint more often than expected by chance (i.e., produced a north up map when located south of the city centre, an east up map when located west, etc.). These results indicate that some participants either selected one of multiple long-term representations or they adopted a single longterm spatial representation according to the current situation.