Simulating Navigation for Spatial Knowledge Acquisition

This paper compares actual and simulated navigation as alternative sources of environmental information. Subjects experienced an 8.3-km tour of an unfamiliar environment through one of two media: a live bus tour along the route or a film shot from inside an automobile driving along the route. Subjects also received one of two types of supplementary information (a map that was studied prior to navigation or an oral narrative giving angle and distance information during navigation), or no supplement. After exposure to the environment, all subjects completed tests of landmark knowledge, procedural (route sequence) knowledge, and survey (configural relation) knowledge. Film (simulated navigation) groups performed as well as or better than tour groups on measures of landmark and survey knowledge. On tests of procedural knowledge, film groups were inferior to tour groups in their ability to point in the direction of unseen landmarks. Supplementary information affected only the film groups. Map study enhanced performance on survey knowledge tests but depressed performance on procedural knowledge tests. We conclude that simulated navigation can be used as a substitute for actual navigation under some circumstances, and that a map supplement can enhance the abstraction of survey knowledge from simulated navigation.