Topological structure in human spatial representation revealed through drawing

Abstract

Human spatial representations are often assumed to represent Euclidean properties such as length, distance, and angle. Here we test an alternative (but not mutually exclusive) possibility - that spatial memory is structured primarily around topological relations. Across four experiments, adults and children memorized simple letter-like figures and reproduced them by drawing, allowing the contents of their spatial representations to be revealed directly. Drawings showed systematic distortions of metric features, including strong biases of angles toward 90{degrees} and compression of line length towards an average value. In contrast, topologically critical features - such as T-junctions and holes - were reliably preserved, even relative to closely matched but topologically irrelevant features like L-junctions. These effects were magnified in a serial reproduction paradigm, in which participants iteratively generated new drawings from previous participant drawings: At the end of each mnemonic chain, figures converged on simplified topological structures as metric detail degraded. Similar patterns were observed in children aged five to eight years. Together, these findings suggest that basic topological relations may function as primitive building blocks of human spatial representation, with metric detail encoded secondarily.