Spatial Learning in Virtual Reality

There are at least two theories of spatial knowledge acquisition in the literature. According to the dominant sequential theory, spatial knowledge progresses through a series of qualitatively distinct stages over learning and/or development. The final stage of sequential theories is labeled “survey representation” and is often described using map metaphors. According to a continuous framework, types of spatial knowledge differ along a continuum and can be learned or developed in parallel. Some researchers also express doubts regarding the map metaphors used to illustrate the final stage of sequential theories. Our two projects on spatial learning in virtual reality address these issues by attempting to predict navigation performance using different types of simple spatial tasks and by comparing participants’ rates of spatial learning in with different navigation aids.