Cognitive mapping: Knowledge of real-world distance and location information.
Abstract
A series of experiments investigated how information about geographic environments is processed. In the first experiment, response time to decide which of two pairs of states or buildings were physically closer in the real world increased as the ratio of the interpair distances approached one. The second experiment examined spatial memory for the interrelationships among states and buildings. Subjects' reaction time to determine the accuracy of relative spatial positions of triads of states was a linear function of the degree of triad rotation from the 0 degrees Cartesian plane of a standard U.S. map. No linear rotation function was reported for triad rotations of buildings. In Experiment 3 a group of subjects unfamiliar with the campus tested in Experiments 1 and 2 learned the location of the buildings from a map only. This group's data reflected a linear trend of reaction time with degree of building triad rotation, similar to results with states in Experiment 2. Perhaps when an environment is primarily learned by a map, knowledge of the interpositions of items in the environment is formed in the single perspective of the map. When the environment is primarily learned through direct experience, knowledge of interpositions of items is more flexible and is processed from many perspectives.
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Spatial memories are encoded in a viewpoint-dependent manner.
“Consistent with the notion of reference frames, spatial memories are encoded in a viewpoint-dependent manner (Albert et al., 1999; Diwadkar & McNamara, 1997; Evans & Pezdek, 1980; Meilinger et al., 2014; Mou & McNamara, 2002; Mou et al., 2004; Roskos-Ewoldsen et al., 1998; Shelton & McNamara, 2001, 2004).”
From This is not the way: global directional cues do not improve spatial learning in an immersive virtual environment (2025) · cites this paper as Evans & Pezdek, 1980
Cites
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Multiple views of spatial memory
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Active and passive contributions to spatial learning
Chrastil, E. R., & Warren, W. H. (2012) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/s13423-011-0182-x · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Ekstrom, A. D., Huffman, D. J., & Starrett, M. (2017) · Journal of Neurophysiology · doi:10.1152/jn.00531.2017 · Cited by 186 · see citing works
How Navigational Aids Impair Spatial Memory: Evidence for Divided Attention
Gardony, A. L., Brunyé, T. T., Mahoney, C. R., & Taylor, H. A. (2013) · Spatial Cognition & Computation · doi:10.1080/13875868.2013.792821 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
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Is the Map in Our Head Oriented North?
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Zhang, H., Zherdeva, K., & Ekstrom, A. D. (2014) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/s13421-014-0418-x · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Local and Global Reference Frames for Environmental Spaces
Meilinger, T., Riecke, B. E., & Bülthoff, H. H. (2014) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1080/17470218.2013.821145 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Yüksel, E., Boogaart, Z., & Weisberg, S. M. (2025) · Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications · doi:10.1186/s41235-025-00654-1 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Initially, researchers proposed that large-scale environments exhibit orientation-dependent encoding because people view them on a map rather than navigating through the environment itself (Evans & Pezdek, 1980).”
- Authors
- Evans, G. W., & Pezdek, K.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory
- Published
- 1980
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 13-24
- ISSN
- 0096-1515 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2100461414
- Cited by
- 271
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 23.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Learning & Memory (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
- Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Geography Education and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Historical Geography and Cartography
- Keywords
- cognitive mapping, spatial memory, distance perception, relative location, map-based learning, direct experience, geographical knowledge
- MeSH terms
- Cognition, Discrimination Learning, Distance Perception, Humans, Judgment, Orientation, Reaction Time, Space Perception
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