The cognitive observer-based landmark-preference model : what is the ideal landmark position at an intersection?

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RoeserFlorian_2015_07_15.pdf (5.07 MB)

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2015

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http://dx.doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-15085

Abstract

Which object at an intersection is the ideal landmark for humans? Why one object and not other? These are the central questions in the exploration of human wayfinding processes, and they are thus part of spatial cognition research. The research literature so far provides quite a few concepts and approaches for how these landmarks should be classified and how the single factors the saliences influence the landmark preferences during wayfinding. This Dissertation follows this approach and presents a systematic variation of the saliences. I investigated the influence of the position, the color, and the shape of the landmark and further examined whether landmark preference depends on the observer´s point of view and viewing direction. The features of an object, the relationship between the present objects, the relationship between the object and the environment, and the relationship between observer and object will be considered. A series of experiments in which participants were asked concerning their landmark preference for providing route directions revealed the following: First, the color of the potential landmark must contrast with the object colors in the environment in order to be preferred this is the visual salience. Second, the ideal landmark position is before the intersection in the direction of the turn this is the structural salience (allocentric perspective). When both saliences compete with each other, participants consider both aspects to different amounts. Third, the results reveal that the structural and the structural-visual effects in an egocentric perspective are influenced by the viewpoint-based salience. All relevant saliences are integrated into a landmark-preference model. The comparison of a mathematical abstraction from this model reveals a good fit with empirical results. These findings are discussed with respect to the current literature and other models and their relevance for everyday wayfinding.

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