Flexible utilization of spatial representation formats in working Memory: Evidence from both small-scale and large-scale environments

Extensive studies have examined spatial representations in working memory (WM). However, their format and consistency across laboratory and large-scale environments remain less understood. Drawing insights from perception research, we proposed two hypotheses regarding the formats: polar coordinates and Cartesian coordinates, and examined these hypotheses in both small-scale and large-scale environments by error correlation analysis. Participants memorized target locations and reproduced them on a computer screen or navigated to corresponding locations in a virtual reality environment. The results revealed that participants defaulted to using polar coordinates to represent space in both environments, rather than Cartesian coordinates. Moreover, the spatial representation format proved flexible. In laboratory settings with grid-like memory contexts, participants tended to adopt Cartesian representations, with the encoding phase playing a more crucial role than the response phase. In large-scale environments, an indirect response type prompted participants to adopt Cartesian representations. Overall, our study underscores the prevalence and flexibility of polar representations for space in WM.