Comparing distances in mental images constructed from visual experience or verbal descriptions: The impact of survey versus route perspective

Mental images constructed after visual examination of a spatial configuration or after processing a verbal description of that configuration have been shown to share similar properties, in particular the capacity to preserve metric information contained in the configuration represented. In the present study, we investigated the properties of mental images constructed under learning conditions resulting from the combination of a visual or a verbal mode of acquisition and a survey or route perspective. Participants memorized a virtual environment (a garden containing six objects) under one of four learning conditions: (a) viewing a map of the garden (visual–survey); (b) viewing a video presentation of a journey along the path around the garden (visual–route); (c) listening to a verbal description of the map of the garden (verbal–survey); and (d) listening to a verbal description of the journey around the garden (verbal–route). The participants were then invited to compare the distances separating objects in...