Spatial updating in blind and sighted people

Four experiments were carried out to determine the accuracy with which early-blind and blind-folded sighted subjects could indicate the remembered positions of objects. Experiment 1 showed that the position of a single object can be recalled, usually with little decline in accuracy, for at least 24 min. Experiment 2 indicated that the recalled position of one object exerts little, if any, influence on the recalled position of an adjacent object. Experiments 3 and 4 dealt with “updating,” the ability to examine objects from one location, then walk to a new location, and from there indicate the positions of the objects. Both groups of subjects demonstrated good updating ability when the method of responding was to replace objects in their original positions; when required to point to objects, however, blind subjects made significantly larger errors than sighted subjects. The pattern of errors suggested distorted recall of the stimulus field rather than an inability to transform spatial information.

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