Contracted time and expanded space: the impact of circumnavigation on judgements of space and time
Open accessAbstract
The ability to estimate distance and time to spatial goals is fundamental for survival. In cases where a region of space must be navigated around to reach a location (circumnavigation), the distance along the path is greater than the straight-line Euclidean distance. To explore how such circumnavigation impacts on estimates of distance and time, we tested participants on their ability to estimate travel time and Euclidean distance to learned destinations in a virtual town. Estimates for approximately linear routes were compared with estimates for routes requiring circumnavigation. For all routes, travel times were significantly underestimated, and Euclidean distances overestimated. For routes requiring circumnavigation, travel time was further underestimated and the Euclidean distance further overestimated. Thus, circumnavigation appears to enhance existing biases in representations of travel time and distance.
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Recent evidence indicates that turns in a path and familiarity with an environment can impact representations of distance.
“Recent evidence indicates that turns in a path and the familiarity with an environment can also impact on representations of distance (Bonasia et al. 2016; Jafarpour and Spiers 2016; Brunec et al. 2017).”
From Hippocampal and Retrosplenial Goal Distance Coding After Long-term Consolidation of a Real-World Environment (2019) · cites this paper as Brunec et al. 2017
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- Authors
- Brunec, I. K., Javadi, A.-H., Zisch, F. E. L., & Spiers, H. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- University of Kent (GB)
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Spiers, Hugo J.
- Venue
- Cognition
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-09
- Volume
- 166
- Pages
- 425-432
- ISSN
- 0010-0277 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5495988
- OpenAlex
- W2626061768
- Cited by
- 37
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 2.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Cognition (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) (acceptedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (094850/Z/10/Z)
- James S. McDonnell Foundation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Geography Education and Pedagogy
- Keywords
- circumnavigation, travel time estimation, distance estimation, spatial cognition, time perception, route planning, Euclidean distance, cognitive biases, spatial navigation
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Distance Perception, Female, Humans, Judgment, Male, Memory, Space Perception, Time Perception, Young Adult, Spatial Navigation
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