Abstract: Previous research has shown that spatial reference frame representation is a complex cognitive process influenced by factors such as the subject and object. Most prior studies had participants learn scenes individually, manipulating their perspective or the scene’s structure to identify reference frame determinants, yet this approach largely overlooked the social aspects of human behavior. However, as social beings, people frequently engage in spatial interactions, where understanding others’ perspectives is crucial for smooth interaction. Spatial collaboration, a key part of such interactions, involves tasks where individuals must work together to solve spatial problems. Building on past research, this study introduced a spatial collaboration task. Through three experiments, it focused on how individuals represented spatial reference frames during collaborative tasks and the conditions that enhanced the integration of these frames among participants.
In each experiment, participants first collaborated with another person to learn a scene and then completed a judgment of relative directions (JRDs) task individually. In Experiment 1, the partner stood at a position of 315° to investigate how individuals establish representations of spatial reference systems in spatial collaboration. In Experiment 2, the partner’s position was adjusted to 225° to create an approximate face-to-face situation to investigate the conditions that promote the integration of spatial frame of reference systems (FoRs). Building on these studies, Experiment 3 further manipulated the presence time of the partner to explore the time course and influencing factors of the integration of spatial FoRs.
The results of Experiment 1 showed that the pointing error of the participants under their own reference system was significantly lower than that under the partner’s perspective in the JRDs tasks. This indicated that the participants represented the space from their own FoRs, and no evidence of the integration of the spatial FoRs was seen. The results of Experiment 2 showed that there was no significant difference in the pointing errors of the two reference systems, which verified that face-to-face interaction with collaborative partners promoted the integration of spatial FoRs. The results of Experiment 3 showed that there was no significant difference in the absolute pointing error of the two reference systems, and the participants could still complete the integration of FoRs. However, the joint analysis of the reaction times from Experiments 2 and 3 found that there were significant differences in the participants’ reaction time performance between the two experiments, and whether the partner left early would affect the participants’ spatial information processing.
Based on the above results, the conclusions are as follows: Firstly, multiple representation forms of FoRs existed in spatial collaborative tasks, with both single- and multi- frame representations possible. Secondly, the integration of FoRs in spatial collaboration was influenced by the partner’s position. An angle approximating face-to-face was more conducive to integration than a side position. Thirdly, even when the partner’s presence was reduced, participants could still integrate FoRs. However, when the partner left during the recovery phase, as opposed to being present throughout, participants formed a more profound partner-perspective representation.

Key words: spatial frame of reference system, spatial perspective-taking, spatial collaboration, integration of frame of reference systems