No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

In this study, the nature of the spatial representations of an environment acquired from maps, navigation, and virtual environments (VEs) was assessed. Participants first learned the layout of a simple desktop VE and then were tested in that environment. Then, participants learned two floors of a complex building in one of three learning conditions: from a map, from direct experience, or by traversing through a virtual rendition of the building. VElearners showed the poorest learning of the complex environment overall, and the results suggest that VE learners are particularly susceptible to disorientation after rotation. However, all the conditions showed similar levels of performance in learning the layout of landmarks on a single floor. Consistent with previous research, an alignment effect was present for map learners, suggesting that they had formed an orientation-specific representation of the environment. VE learners also showed a preferred orientation, as defined by their initial orientation when learning the environment. Learning the initial simple VE was highly predictive of learning a real environment, suggesting that similar cognitive mechanisms are involved in the two learning situations.

Abstract. The importance of scale to the psychology of space (perception, thinking, memory, behavior) is discussed. It is maintained that scale has an important influence on how humans treat spatial information and that several qualitatively distinct scale classes of space exist. Past systems of classification are reviewed and some novel terms and distinctions are introduced. Empirical evidence for the need to distinguish between spatial scales is presented. Some implications of these scale distinctions are briefly considered and research needs identified.