Strategies of processing spatial information in survey and landmark-centred individuals.

This study investigated differences between individuals with survey and landmark-centred spatial representations in different visuo-spatial tasks and in two way-finding tasks. The Mental Rotation Test (MRT; Vanderberg & Kuse, 1978), and the Minnesota Paper Form Board Test (MPFB; Likert & Quasha, 1941) were administered to two groups of high-survey and landmark-centred undergraduate students. The groups also performed two way-finding tasks where they were required to study the route they were going to take, in one case with a map and in the other with a verbal description. Differences between the two groups emerged; high-survey individuals performed the MRT better than the landmark-centred ones. In the way-finding task an interaction, instruction by group, was found, supporting the idea that the two groups are influenced differently by the format (map or verbal description) of instructions. The landmark-centred group made fewer errors than the high-survey group with the verbal descriptions.

[1]  M. de Vega,et al.  Characters and their perspectives in narratives describing spatial environments , 1994 .

[2]  M. Hegarty,et al.  Properties of cognitive maps constructed from texts , 1994, Memory & cognition.

[3]  Barbara Tversky,et al.  Spatial Perspective in Descriptions , 1996 .

[4]  D. R. Montello,et al.  Integrating Knowledge of Vertically Aligned Large-Scale Spaces , 1993 .

[5]  A. Devlin,et al.  Interactive wayfinding: Use of cues by men and women , 1995 .

[6]  Susan D. Voyer,et al.  Magnitude of sex differences in spatial abilities: a meta-analysis and consideration of critical variables. , 1995, Psychological bulletin.

[7]  N. Newcombe,et al.  Turn Left at the Church, Or Three Miles North , 1986 .

[8]  B. Tversky.  Spatial mental models , 1991 .

[9]  C. Lawton,et al.  Individual- and Gender-Related Differences in Indoor Wayfinding , 1996 .

[10]  A. Siegel,et al.  The development of spatial representations of large-scale environments. , 1975, Advances in child development and behavior.

[11]  Jerry Weisman,et al.  Evaluating Architectural Legibility , 1981 .

[12]  C. Lawton.  Gender differences in way-finding strategies: Relationship to spatial ability and spatial anxiety , 1994 .

[13]  R. Shepard,et al.  Mental Rotation of Three-Dimensional Objects , 1971, Science.

[14]  Barbara Hayes-Roth,et al.  Differences in spatial knowledge acquired from maps and navigation , 1982, Cognitive Psychology.

[15]  M. Denis,et al.  Spatial discourse and navigation: an analysis of route directions in the city of Venice , 1999 .

[16]  R. Passini.  Spatial representations, a wayfinding perspective , 1984 .

[17]  P. Thorndyke,et al.  Individual differences in procedures for knowledge acquisition from maps , 1980, Cognitive Psychology.

[18]  G. Evans,et al.  Environmental Learning and Cognitive Mapping , 1981 .

[19]  B. Tversky,et al.  Spatial mental models derived from survey and route descriptions , 1992 .

[20]  Stephen C. Hirtle,et al.  Acquisition of spatial knowledge for routes , 1991 .

[21]  Lynn A. Streeter,et al.  How to Tell People Where to Go: Comparing Navigational Aids , 1985, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[22]  Nora S. Newcombe,et al.  Spatial representation and behavior across the life span , 1981 .

[23]  Walter Kintsch,et al.  Propositional and situational representations of text , 1985 .

[24]  S. Vandenberg,et al.  Mental Rotations, a Group Test of Three-Dimensional Spatial Visualization , 1978, Perceptual and motor skills.

[25]  C. Lawton.  STRATEGIES FOR INDOOR WAYFINDING: THE ROLE OF ORIENTATION , 1996 .

[26]  L. Kozlowski,et al.  Sense of Direction, Spatial Orientation, and Cognitive Maps. , 1977 .

[27]  R. Hart,et al.  The Development of Spatial Cognition: A Review. , 1973 .

[28]  A. Devlin,et al.  Interactive way-finding : Map style and effectiveness , 1997 .

[29]  M. Linn,et al.  Emergence and characterization of sex differences in spatial ability: a meta-analysis. , 1985, Child development.