Annual Meeting

Call for Abstracts: Deadline June 5

The deadline to submit a paper or poster abstract for the 2025 Annual Meeting is quickly approaching. Submissions can be made through your Psychonomic Society member account or the button below. Please ensure your submission category matches your membership level, and that your 2025 dues are paid. For full instructions and details, please visit the Call for Abstracts page. For non-member submissions and other questions please contact Member Services. The deadline is June 5.

The Fellows program recognizes members who demonstrate clear evidence of independent scholarship, active engagement in methodologically rigorous and theoretically interesting high-level research, and indications of an imminent national/international reputation for excellence in the psychological sciences.

The Psychonomic Society Governing Board welcomes the following members as the newest Fellows of the Society. Join us in congratulating the 2025 Spring Class of Fellows!

Our new Fellows were selected by the Fellows Committee: Kristi S. Multhaup, Davidson College, USA (Chair); Andrew Butler, Washington University in St. Louis, USA; Lisa Fazio, Vanderbilt University, USA; Arturo Hernandez, University of Houston, USA; Thomas Redick, Purdue University, USA.

2026 Election

Call for Governing Board Nominations

Do you know a Fellow or Emeritus Fellow whose leadership would benefit the Society? Nominations are open for the Psychonomic Society’s Governing Board, with a final ballot featuring six candidates: three nominated by members and three selected by the Nominations Committee. The two individuals who receive the most votes will serve a six-year term from 2026 to 2031. 

Members, Fellows, Emeritus Members, and Emeritus Fellows may nominate up to four individuals. Please note that nominations may not include current members of the Governing Board, and student members are not eligible to nominate or vote. Your participation in this important process is greatly appreciated. The deadline is June 30. More.

Euclidean or not: Human navigation in curved and wormhole spaces

Frances Wang

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA

May 21

11:15 AM - 1:00 PM U.S. ET   | Register Now



Abstract

Navigation and representations of the spatial environment are central to human survival. Given the near Euclidean nature of the physical space we evolved in, it's reasonable to expect that our spatial navigation system also follows Euclidean principles. However, a number of studies have challenged the Euclidean hypothesis. In this talk I will discuss the central issues and present a series of new studies that examined the metric properties of human spatial representations by creating curved virtual spaces (Hyperbolic and Spherical spaces) where lights travel along curves and one may see the back of one's own head, and spaces with wormholes where one can be instantaneously transported to a different location in space and an infinite number of possible Euclidean representations may be constructed based on one's perceptual experience. 

The data showed that the human path integration / spatial updating system operates on Euclidean geometry, even when curvature violations are clearly present. Moreover, people not only can construct global Euclidean representations of non-Euclidean wormhole space, but also construct them in different ways by selectively preserving distance, turning angle, and/or straightness of the path segments while sacrificing the others. These findings suggest that human spatial representations are fundamentally Euclidean but likely fragmented without consistent global integration.

All talks in the One World Seminar Series are underwritten by the Psychonomic Society and made available free of charge. The Psychonomic Society is committed to programmatic accessibility and has secured ASL interpretation and quality closed captioning for all One World events in the 2024-2025 schedule.

As a reminder, the Psychonomic Society’s Governing Board is offering expanded support programs in response to the current political climate and its impact on the scientific community. Support available for 2025 includes:

• Membership Fee Waivers: Comprehensive assistance for members experiencing financial hardship, including waived 2025 dues and registration fees across all membership categories.

• Emergency Hardship Fund: Specialized support for former U.S. Government employees affected by changes in U.S. government employment, offering complimentary registration and expense reimbursement.

• Member Support Fund: A new initiative where the Society will match contributions up to $25,000 to help members maintain their benefits despite employment disruptions.

Thank you for the overwhelming response. It is wonderful to see so many members taking advantage of and showing strong interest in these opportunities. Visit the links above for additional information.

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