In Experiment 1, participants read a description of a 3-path route. One group was asked to imagine the route as a map, and the other group was asked to imagine walking a return journey along a larger version of the route. Subsequently, both groups made aligned judgments more accurately and more rapidly than contraaligned judgments. In Experiments 2, 3A, and 3B, the orientation specificity effect was replicated despite variations in procedure designed to attenuate alignment effects. In Experiment 3C, participants visually explored computersimulated environments with the same layout and relative dimensions as those presented verbally in Experiments 2-3B. The evidence for alignment effects in time taken to make judgments was weak, and no evidence of alignment effects was found in accuracy.

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A group 10 severely physically disabled children explored a to-scale computer simulation of a real multi-storey building. Following exploration, their knowledge of the spatial properties of the real environment was assessed by asking them to point to fire apparatus that was not visible from the test site. Subjects in a control group were asked to complete the same assessment tasks, but without the opportunity to explore either the real building or the computer simulation. The estimates of the disabled children were superior to the control group indicating good transfer of spatial knowledge. Route finding and recognition reports provided support for the pointing data in indicating good transfer of spatial information.

Participants explored either a real multistory building or a to-scale computer simulation of the same building. Following exploration, we assessed their knowledge of the spatial properties of the environment. Participants in a control group were asked to complete the same assessment tasks without the opportunity to explore either the real building or the computer simulation. Spatial knowledge was assessed using four measures: pointing to objects not directly visible from the test site, Euclidean distance estimates, route distance estimates, and drawings of the building. Transfer of learning from the simulation to the real environment was evident. Pointing to objects not visible from the test site proved to be the most sensitive measure; map-drawing accuracy was very similar to pointing accuracy. However, some other measures did not distinguish the estimates of control participants from the group that explored the real building.