Spatial memory and integration processes in congenital blindness

The paper tests the hypothesis that difficulties met by the blind in spatial processing are due to the simultaneous treatment of independent spatial representations. Results showed that lack of vision does not impede the ability to process and transform mental images; however, blind people are significantly poorer in the recall of more than a single spatial pattern at a time than in the recall of the corresponding material integrated into a single pattern. It is concluded that the simultaneous maintenance of different spatial information is affected by congenital blindness, while cognitive processes that may involve sequential manipulation are not.