Spatial representations in a life-span perspective : Cognitive and developmental factors in the construction of real and virtual itineraries – SpaLife

The aim of the present project is to study how humans process spatial information to construct and use mental models of relevant to itineraries in large-scale way-finding situations. It will advance our knowledge of human spatial cognition in three ways. First, it brings together researchers from different disciplines (cognitive psychologists, psycholinguists and linguistics) who rely on different and complementary methodologies to study the same behaviours. Second, it provides a rich framework in which to take into account the multiple dimensions of human spatial representations. Third, it proposes a life-span perspective that examines the impact of age on the development of human spatial representations. Spatial representations of physical surroundings may be built by viewing, hearing, touching, or moving around objects in the environment. However, they need not be built exclusively by direct exploration of the environment, since humans have the capacity to construct abstract spatial representations through the use of symbolic supports such as language and maps. Both of these situations correspond to common real-life experiences, such as when we travel with maps or have to understand or produce the verbal description of an itinerary. Although much research has been devoted to spatial representations in young adults, the nature of these spatial models and the ways in which they evolve throughout life from childhood (developing cognitive systems) to old age (declining cognitive systems) are far from being understood. Although spatial information may be acquired in many different ways, only few studies have examined whether the mental models that emerge from different sources of information (verbal, visual, navigation) share the same properties and allow for the same types of computations. On the one hand, it has been suggested that spatial models are flexible enough to allow for computation that can result in equivalent representations across different sources of input. On the other hand, recent research suggests that some modes of presentation, particularly language, may play a special role in structuring human spatial representations. One particularly interesting methodology available to study how learners process a novel environment, became recently possible through the use of virtual environments. Behavioural studies have shown an increasing interest for virtual technology because of its potential for experimentally controlling variables in complex situations where spatial information is learned and used in a number of different ways. Studying how spatial information may be explored by visual means in real or virtual environments and by verbal means in route descriptions is of particular interest since both ways of acquiring spatial knowledge are typically involved in navigation aids (such as maps, instructions, audio-guides, GPS systems, etc.). In addition, once acquired, spatial information can be reproduced by learners in different types of responses, that may also affect their representations. Available studies have only partially examined the impact of intake/output modes on human spatial representations, at best comparing two modes of presentation with one type of response. Positing the functional equivalence of spatial representations across input/output modes does not imply that these representations are formed with the same ease. The cognitive and linguistic capacities of the learner certainly determine his/her ability to construct an accurate spatial representation and to use it efficiently, but to date little is known about this question. Some studies show that the limitations of our working memory (verbal and visuo-spatial) may be of particular importance in this respect. In addition, we do not know much about how children construct spatial models of itineraries and how these modesl change with increasing cognitive and linguistic development. We also do not know much concerning aging adults, who generally show a simultaneous decline in memory and spatial abilities, both of which are involved in the representations of itineraries.