In my own dissertation data there is no evidence of online spatial updating (but updating nonetheless). It is really starting to look like Wang is the only one who is finding it.
This is prompting a reevaluation.
Let’s assume that spatial updating is only performed offline and that the ease of tracking objects in the environment is actually just the result of opportunistic attending and encoding plus just-in-time updating when required. This then largely removes any need for a multiple chunk buffer. This buffer was required to accommodate the online updating of multiple targets (e.g. Gallistel, 1990; Wang, et al., 2006).
I’m thinking that ACT-R/S is going to be parameterized (EnableOnlineUpdating) to support online or offline only. If offline only is supported, the buffer is a single chunk buffer and the queries (location-query, configural-query, etc) will no longer require that the reference representations be in the buffer, but that they must be fully specified. If the model moves (as opposed to transform-translation, transform-rotation), the configural buffer contents will remain unchanged.
If online is enabled, the buffer can contain more than one chunk, the queries are more flexible in specification, and movements produce configural changes.
This has the benefit of being immediately more acceptable to the larger ACT-R community (no weird buffers), but does allow further exploration of the issue.
