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Improving Route Directions: The Role of Intersection Type and Visual Clutter for Spatial Reference
Author(s) -
Baltaretu Adriana,
Krahmer Emiel,
Maes Alfons
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.3145
Subject(s) - clutter , intersection (aeronautics) , zoom , preference , visual search , psychology , computer science , computer vision , artificial intelligence , cognitive psychology , cartography , geography , engineering , telecommunications , radar , petroleum engineering , microeconomics , economics , lens (geology)
Summary In this study, we ask whether references to paths and landmarks in route directions (RDs) are influenced by environmental complexity, zooming in on two aspects of the visual surroundings, namely intersection structure and visual clutter. Speakers are asked to produce (Experiment 1), understand (Experiment 2) and evaluate (Experiment 3) turn‐by‐turn RDs in a naturalistic setting (Google Street View panoramic pictures). We find that increased levels of visual clutter and intersections with complex structures trigger more references to landmarks and paths when participants produce RDs, longer decision times to determine what the next correct step in a route is and increased preference for landmarks. Finally, we discuss possible implications for automatic RD generation.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.