Abstract
In dynamic tasks such as flying and driving, the accurate projection of changes in spatial information is essential for safe operation by operators. However, the working memory mechanism involved in maintaining and updating spatial situation awareness projection are not yet understood. Three experiments were conducted, using a masking paradigm to simulate situation absence and applying distraction, to investigate the working memory mechanism of the maintenance and updating of spatial situation awareness projection. The results revealed that, under different conditions of duration of situation absence and continuous distraction (Experiment 1), increases in the duration of situation absence caused the accuracy of the participants’ projection of the position of a moving object to decrease and their response time slowed. After approximately 5s of situation absence, their projection became completely inaccurate and their reaction delay was at its highest. Under conditions of fixed duration of situation absence and different durations of distraction (Experiment 2), only continuous distraction led to a deterioration in the participants’ projection performance, which partially recovered after the distraction was interrupted. Under different conditions of distraction type and object relationships (Experiment 3), visual-spatial distraction had a stronger negative impact on the participants’ projection judgments compared to auditory distraction, and increased complexity in object relationships amplified the effect of visual-spatial distraction on the participants’ projection judgments. These findings suggest that spatial situation awareness projection has a maintenance and updating mechanism associated with the central executive system’s refreshing function and the visuospatial sketchpad, which operate within limited storage capacity and time constraints.