Introduction to the Special Section on Spatial Reference Frames: Examining What and How Information Is Encoded Through the Integration of Cognitive, Behavioral, and Neuroscience Approaches Laura A. Carlson University of Notre Dame James Hoffman University of Delaware Nora Newcombe Temple University A spatial reference frame is a system of axes that assigns coordinate values to objects and regions in a given space and can serve as a means for specifying spatial information such as orientation and position. A longstanding literature has focused on the encoding of spatial position, examining what and how that information is encoded. The set of articles selected for this special section present current research on these two themes and are distinguished by their integration of cognitive, behavioral, and neuroscience approaches. Keywords: spatial reference frames, egocentric, allocentric, spatial representation, integration of approaches Our interactions with the world critically depend upon spatial information. For example, we are able to return to our car upon leaving the grocery store because we remember where the car was parked. When we encounter a detour, we can (usually) construct an alternative route to work by making a series of spatial inferences based on our representation of the space between our home and workplace. We can tell someone who is lost how to go from Place A to Place B on the basis of our ability to map our internal representation of the space connecting these places onto language. We can assess whether our luggage might fit in the trunk of the car by imagining it in different orientations and different arrange- ments. And we can successfully pick up a coffee mug on the desk because we can encode its location and form an appropriate motor plan. Such spatial interactions cut across a diversity of cognitive domains, including spatial memory, spatial inferences, spatial lan- guage, and action in space, and a common component across these domains is the need to specify spatial position. There is a long-standing and diverse literature in the cognitive sciences investigating the way in which such spatial information is encoded that dates back to Tolman’s (1948) cognitive maps. One critical issue that has been addressed corresponds to what infor- mation is encoded in the internal representation of space. For example, Cheng and Newcombe (2005) reviewed a large body of research across species that examines whether the spatial location of an object is encoded relative to geometric information regarding the configuration of the space or relative to featural information present in the space. For example, in a rectangular room, one can encode the location of an object relative to the corners formed by the short and long walls (geometric) or relative to a single wall with a distinctive color (feature). A second critical issue corre- sponds to how the spatial information is encoded. Across domains, it is commonly assumed that a spatial reference frame is used to specify location (Levinson, 1996). A spatial reference frame can be thought of as a system of axes that assigns coordinate values to objects and regions in a given space. Specifying a coordinate frame involves selecting an origin and orientation for the primary axes, and a critical issue is specifying how these selections are made. Information could be represented egocentrically, based on an origin centered on the observer, or it could be represented allo- centrically, based on the encoding of interobject relations and metric distances and angles within the scene itself. Evidence for both types of representations has been obtained, associated with distinct neural regions (e.g., Colby & Goldberg, 1999; Gallistel, 1990; O’Keefe & Nadel, 1978; for a recent review, see Burgess, 2008). These two key questions about what information is encoded in the spatial representation and how this information is encoded in terms of different types of reference frames serve as themes for this special section on spatial reference frames. These themes, coupled with a robust and interdisciplinary history that cuts across cognitive domains, make spatial reference frames an ideal arena for showcasing the advances that arise from a tight integration of cognitive, behavioral, and neuroscience approaches. The seven articles selected for this special section all rely on an integration of these diverse approaches to address one or both of these two fundamental questions, with some authors using existing neural models to motivate theoretical distinctions and others using patient data to test specific theoretically derived predictions. This pointed focus on these two questions is complemented by our selection of articles across a variety of cognitive domains including spatial Laura A. Carlson, Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame; James Hoffman, Department of Psychology, University of Dela- ware; Nora Newcombe, Department of Psychology, Temple University. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Laura A. Carlson, Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556. E-mail: lcarlson@nd.edu Journal of Experimental Psychology: © 2010 American Psychological Association Learning, Memory, and Cognition 2010, Vol. 36, No. 3, 573–575 0278-7393/10/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0019449 573