THREE TYPES OF ENVIRONMENTAL REPRESENTATIONS AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN SPATIAL NAVIGATION

Abstract

This study proposed the existence of two distinct survey-based representations of environmental space: the allocentric-survey representation and the egocentric-survey representation. The latter is a novel environmental representation that was postulated to be formed through egocentric spatial updating, the navigational process whereby self-to-object relations are continuously tracked and updated as one moves in space. In Study 1, based on sketchmaps, the two survey-based representations were implicated to be qualitatively distinct. Compared to the allocentric-survey maps, the egocentric-survey maps preserved information not only of spatial locations, but also of egocentric orientation. Furthermore, egocentric-survey map sketchers responded significantly faster on navigational tasks that demanded knowledge of egocentric orientation and perspective. In Study 2, a Navigational Strategy Questionnaire was designed to assess the relationship between navigational strategies and environmental representations. A novel spatial updating scale exhibited predictive validity in relation to large-scale navigational performance and related spatial updating to the formation of egocentric-survey representations.