Geographic Memory Bubbles: Recall of the Fifty United States

The participants (N?=?180) in this study resided in two different states (i.e., North Dakota (ND) and Georgia (GA)). Each participant completed two tasks in a counterbalanced order: 1) free recall of the fifty United States and 2) recall of the fifty United States using a numbered map of the United States where they matched the state name to the actual state on the map. There were significant differences in recall by task. Also, there were significant chi-square values and a significant interaction for the states recalled by ND participants and GA participants. Participants demonstrated high recall (70 % or higher) for the 5–7 states surrounding their state of residence (e.g., primary geographic memory bubble). All participants had high recall for the states of WA, CA, NV, TX, FL, ME, AK and HI (e.g., secondary geographic memory bubble). The implications of these results relating to geographic illiteracy, instruction, and memory are discussed.