Embodiment of Spatial Reference Frames and Individual Differences in Reference Frame Proclivity

Spatial cognitive processes can be based on distinct reference frames centered on the body (egocentric reference frame) or centered on aspects of the surrounding environment independent of the position and orientation of the cognizing subject (allocentric reference frame). Updating of spatial information based on an egocentric reference frame is often believed to be highly automatic while the computation of spatial information based on an allocentric reference frame is assumed to be effortful and dependent on prior egocentric space processing. In this position paper I will review theoretical and empirical work that challenges the view of such a hierarchical organization of spatial reference frames and propose an embodied view of spatial reference frame computation. This perspective is based on three interdependent aspects of spatial reference frames. First, based on the existence of neural structures that allow for an automatic computation of both, egocentric and allocentric spatial representations, a functional equivalence of distinct reference frames is proposed. Second, based on the assumption of efficient computation and parallel accessibility of distinct reference frames individual proclivities are proposed to develop based on environmental and socio-cultural influences. Finally, it is proposed that ontogenetic differences are manifest in anatomical changes associated with the dominant use of different reference frames. These changes influence the microgenesis of spatial knowledge and influence behavior in other spatial cognitive tasks. In conclusion, an embodied framework of spatial reference frames strongly suggests consideration of individual reference frame proclivities to gain further insights into the complex architecture of human spatial cognition. More importantly, neuroscientific approaches describing cortical networks and associated brain dynamics have to allow participants to actively move and behave in their environment to allow for investigating the cognitive processes and brain dynamics underlying embodied spatial cognition.