ABSTRACT
Spatial memory encodes information about location, orientation, distance, and direction. It enables us to remember scenes and to navigate our environment. We can recognise places as familiar and recall routes from one location to another. We can devise novel routes or shortcuts for reaching a goal. Spatial memory is also used for locating objects, and for remembering how they might be found. This may range from coding landmarks along routes, such as a service station on the motorway, to everyday objects lying around the house, such as a set of keys. Memory for scenes and for the layout of objects within scenes mediates our interaction with the immediate environment. All these functions involve representation of the spatial layout of the environment.
