The role of cognitive maps in familiarity and wayfinding

Wayfinding is a difficult task that can be broken down into the interaction of a user with spatial information. It has been found that participants that are familiar with an environment are more successful at wayfinding than those that are not. It has also been found that participants that are familiar with an environment give wayfinding descriptions differently. This poster begins to examine familiarity in terms of the concept of the cognitive map. By exploring the formation of a cognitive map over time we can begin to examine the relationship between the cognitive map, familiarity with an environment, and wayfinding success. This poster outlines an experimental design for future work that examines these three areas together.