| Learning objects and their locations is a daily function of human cognition. In order to act effectively, people must remember where they placed items as well as where stationary objects are located in the environment. Previous research has shown that object-location learning requires encoding specific features of an object, encoding its specific location in space, and forming an association between the two. This research suggests that a degree of complexity is involved beyond that involved in either object recognition or location learning itself, thus raising interesting questions regarding the role of working memory in object-location learning. These questions are particularly salient in light of findings of Silverman and Eals (1992) that showed women outperforming men on an object-location learning task. It is a curious finding, as men have consistently outperformed women on visuo-spatial tasks such as mental rotation. Three studies were conducted to examine the role of working memory in object-location learning. Experiment 1 was a replication of the object-location learning task used by Silverman and Eals in which sex differences favoring women were found. Experiment 2 involved a correlational study in which measures of verbal, spatial, and visual working memory were correlated with performance on object learning and object-location learning tasks. Regression analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which different working memory measures accounted for object-location learning in general and sex-related differences in particular. Spatial and visual working memory span measures were the strongest predictors of object-location learning, while verbal working memory span was not a significant predictor. These results indicated that different constructs of working memory were involved in object-location learning. Experiment 3 explored the role each domain-specific type of working memory played in object-location learning using a dual-task method. Results showed that object-location learning was impaired when any type of concurrent task was performed. This suggests that object-location learning involves a general pool of resources, although there was no differential role for any of the working memory measures. Thus, results from these studies support the conclusion that working memory is definitely involved in object-location learning. |
