Computer-assisted navigation and the acquisition of route and survey knowledge

The incidental acquisition of spatial orientation knowledge when using a pedestrian navigation assistance system for wayfinding was compared to incidental learning during map-based wayfinding. First-time visitors to a real environment (a zoo) took a guided tour. In the navigation assistance conditions, users were provided with direction information and view-based pictures of the current intersection at each decision point, presented on a hand-held computer. In the map-based condition, participants derived route segments from a map (each segment comprising three or four intersections), and then walked the partial routes from memory. After walking, unexpected tests on route memory and survey knowledge were administered. Navigation assistance users showed good route knowledge and poor survey knowledge. In contrast, map users showed better survey knowledge and nearly perfect route knowledge. Variations of information presentation within navigation assistance conditions (auditory vs. visual direction command, additional presentation of allocentric spatial information) was not effective. Results are explained with an active encoding principle. Only information that is actually encoded, transformed, and/or memorized during the primary wayfinding activity, is incidentally learned. Since navigation assistance systems do not require users to encode, transform, and memorize spatial information, the spatial orientation knowledge of navigation assistance users is poor.     

Acquisition of spatial knowledge for routes

An important issue in the study of spatial knowledge has been the distinction between configurational and route knowledge. Route knowledge is characterized by the knowledge of sequential locations without the knowledge of general interrelationships. In contrast, configurational knowledge is characterized by the ability to generalize beyond learned routes and locate objects within a general frame of reference. These two types of knowledge are contrasted in a learning experiment, in which subjects acquire spatial information either from a map or a slide presentation. Furthermore, the structure of their spatial knowledge is derived from free-recall data using the ordered tree clustering algorithm. The results show, first, that subjects in the map condition acquired more accurate configurational knowledge. Second, we found that route knowledge can be acquired either through route presentation or map presentation. Third, there are individual differences within the slide group, such that some subjects were able to acquire configurational knowledge. And fourth, ordered trees are able to account for some of these differences, and thus identify the degree of configurational knowledge acquired by the slide subjects.     

Modeling the spatial dynamics of regional land use: the CLUE-S model

Land-use change models are important tools for integrated environmental management. Through scenario analysis they can help to identify near-future critical locations in the face of environmental change. A dynamic, spatially explicit, land-use change model is presented for the regional scale: CLUE-S. The model is specifically developed for the analysis of land use in small regions (e.g., a watershed or province) at a fine spatial resolution. The model structure is based on systems theory to allow the integrated analysis of land-use change in relation to socio-economic and biophysical driving factors. The model explicitly addresses the hierarchical organization of land use systems, spatial connectivity between locations and stability. Stability is incorporated by a set of variables that define the relative elasticity of the actual land-use type to conversion. The user can specify these settings based on expert knowledge or survey data. Two applications of the model in the Philippines and Malaysia are used to illustrate the functioning of the model and its validation.     

The relationship between spatial ability and environmental knowledge

This study examined the relationships between four standardized measures of spatial ability—the Embedded Figures Test (EFT), the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), the Differential Aptitude Spatial Relations subtest (DAT), and the Building Memory Test (BMT)—and two measures of environmental knowledge. Three hundred and fifty-three college undergraduates were administered the EFT, MRT, DAT, BMT and two measures of environmental knowledge-a landmark location (LM) and route knowledge (RK) task. The two environmental knowledge tasks were based on a slide-simulated walk through an unfamiliar urban environment. A principal components analysis of the above six measures produced two factors; one consisting of the four spatial ability tests, and the other the two environmental knowledge tasks. The correlation between the two factors was 0·37, indicating that the spatial ability factor accounted for 13·69% of the variance in the environmental knowledge factor.     

Use and interaction of navigation strategies in regionalized environments

In this work, three experiments are reported that studied the use and interaction of navigation strategies both during the learning of a virtual environment and during subsequent route planning tasks. Special interest concerned the role of regions within the environments. Results from Experiment 1 suggest that the regions are perceived and encoded in spatial memory very early during the process of learning an environment. During navigation such regional information could be used to overcome missing or imprecise spatial information on the detailed level. Experiments 2 and 3 studied the use and interaction of route planning strategies that are applied after an environment has been learned. Results suggest (i) that human route planning takes into account region-connectivity and is not based on place-connectivity alone, (ii) that route planning takes into account the distribution of multiple target locations and (iii) that route planning takes into account the complexity of alternative paths.     

Detection capacity,information gaps and the design of surveillance programs for invasive forest pests

Integrated pest risk maps and their underlying assessments provide broad guidance for establishing surveillance programs for invasive species, but they rarely account for knowledge gaps regarding the pest of interest or how these can be reduced. In this study we demonstrate how the somewhat competing notions of robustness to uncertainty and potential knowledge gains could be used in prioritizing large-scale surveillance activities. We illustrate this approach with the example of an invasive pest recently detected in North America, Sirex noctilio Fabricius. First, we formulate existing knowledge about the pest into a stochastic model and use the model to estimate the expected utility of surveillance efforts across the landscape. The expected utility accounts for the distribution, abundance and susceptibility of the host resource as well as the value of timely S. noctilio detections. Next, we make use of the info-gap decision theory framework to explore two alternative pest surveillance strategies. The first strategy aims for timely, certain detections and attempts to maximize the robustness to uncertainty about S. noctilio behavior; the second strategy aims to maximize the potential knowledge gain about the pest via unanticipated (i.e., opportune) detections. The results include a set of spatial outputs for each strategy that can be used independently to prioritize surveillance efforts. However, we demonstrate an alternative approach in which these outputs are combined via the Pareto ranking technique into a single priority map that outlines the survey regions with the best trade-offs between both surveillance strategies.     

The effects of pathway configuration, landmarks and stress on environmental cognition

The results of this study indicate that manipulations of the pathway grid configuration and landmark placement in a setting cause changes in environmental knowledge. These experimental manipulations were accomplished using a realistic, dynamic simulation technique at the Berkeley Environmental Simulation Laboratory. Measures of environmental knowledge include: memory for incidental information along the simulated urban route, accuracy of route maps, relocation memory for scenes along the route, and questionnaire measures. Data are also presented showing both positive and negative effects of stress from noise on the processes of environmental cognition.     

Up the down staircase: Wayfinding strategies in multi-level buildings

The intention of this article is to create a link between human spatial cognition research and architectural design. We conducted an empirical study with human subjects in a complex multi-level building and compared thinking aloud protocols and performance measures of experienced and inexperienced participants in different wayfinding tasks. Three specific strategies for navigation in multi-level buildings were compared. The central point strategy relies on well-known parts of the building; the direction strategy relies on routes that first head towards the horizontal position of the goal, while the floor strategy relies on routes that first head towards the vertical position of the goal. We show that the floor strategy was preferred by experienced participants over the other strategies and was overall tied to better wayfinding performance. Route knowledge showed a greater impact on wayfinding performance compared to survey knowledge. A cognitive-architectural analysis of the building revealed seven possible causes for navigation problems. Especially the staircase design was identified as a major wayfinding obstacle. Finally we address the benefits of cognitive approaches for the architectural design process and describe some open issues for further research.     

A conceptual model and empirical analysis of children's acquisition of spatial knowledge

How adults and children come to understand, represent and behave within their spatial environment are topics of great interest to geographers, psychologists, environmental planners and laypeople. Considerable research and theory has been published on these and related topics. In this paper, we will review some of what is known and theorized about spatial cognition and then consider elements of our research program on the acquisition of spatial knowledge. We focus on two intimately related topics. The first is the development of a conceptual model of the knowledge structures and processes associated with acquiring, representing and accessing knowledge of a given environment. The conceptual model forms the basis for a formal computational process model intended as a simulation of actual knowledge and performance in way finding tasks. The second emphasis is an in-depth case study of the acquisition of spatial knowledge. The case study focuses on a single child acquiring knowledge of a lengthy route through an unfamiliar suburban neighborhood. It is presented as an empirical test of certain assumptions embodied within the conceptual model.Before introducing the conceptual model and the case study, we first review the state of current theory and data on spatial cognition and identify four central issues confronting researchers in this field. This review provides a necessary context for describing and evaluating our program of research. The second section of this paper discusses elements of the conceptual model and its relationship to other formal computational models. The third section considers specific hypotheses about the acquisition and representation of spatial knowledge and tests of these hypotheses from the single in-depth case study. The final discussion section of this paper is a reconsideration of the four issues raised in the first section and necessary and proposed extensions of the current research.     

The effect of navigational expertise on wayfinding in new environments

Becoming proficient at navigation in urban environments is something that we all aspire to. Here we asked whether being an expert at wayfinding in one environment has any effect on learning new spatial layouts. Licensed London taxi drivers are among the most proficient urban navigators, training for many years to find their way around a complex and irregularly-laid out city. We first tested how well they could learn the layout of an unfamiliar town compared with a group of non-taxi drivers. Second, we investigated how effectively taxi drivers could integrate a new district into their existing spatial representation of London. We found that taxi drivers were significantly better than control participants at executing routes through the new town, and representing it at a map-like survey level. However, the benefits of navigational expertise were not universal. Compared with their performance in the new town, taxi drivers were significantly poorer at learning the layout of a new area that had to be integrated with their existing knowledge of London. We consider reasons for this picture of facilitation and limitation, in particular drawing parallels with how knowledge acquisition occurs in the context of expertise in general.     

The effect of navigational expertise on wayfinding in new environments

Becoming proficient at navigation in urban environments is something that we all aspire to. Here we asked whether being an expert at wayfinding in one environment has any effect on learning new spatial layouts. Licensed London taxi drivers are among the most proficient urban navigators, training for many years to find their way around a complex and irregularly-laid out city. We first tested how well they could learn the layout of an unfamiliar town compared with a group of non-taxi drivers. Second, we investigated how effectively taxi drivers could integrate a new district into their existing spatial representation of London. We found that taxi drivers were significantly better than control participants at executing routes through the new town, and representing it at a map-like survey level. However, the benefits of navigational expertise were not universal. Compared with their performance in the new town, taxi drivers were significantly poorer at learning the layout of a new area that had to be integrated with their existing knowledge of London. We consider reasons for this picture of facilitation and limitation, in particular drawing parallels with how knowledge acquisition occurs in the context of expertise in general.     

Spatial and Temporal Assessment of Cumulative Disturbance Impacts Due to Military Training,Burning, Haying,and Their Interactions on Land Condition of Fort Riley

The effects of military training activities on the land condition of Army installations vary spatially and temporally. Training activities observably degrade land condition while also increasing biodiversity and stabilizing ecosystems. Moreover, other anthropogenic activities regularly occur on military lands such as prescribed burns and agricultural haying—adding to the dynamics of land condition. Thus, spatially and temporally assessing the impacts of military training, prescribed burning, agricultural haying, and their interactions is critical to the management of military lands. In this study, the spatial distributions and patterns of military training-induced disturbance frequency were derived using plot observation and point observation-based method, at Fort Riley, Kansas from 1989 to 2001. Moreover, spatial and variance analysis of cumulative impacts due to military training, burning, haying, and their interactions on the land condition of Fort Riley were conducted. The results showed that: (1) low disturbance intensity dominated the majority of the study area with exception of concentrated training within centralized areas; (2) high and low values of disturbance frequency were spatially clustered and had spatial patterns that differed significantly from a random distribution; and (3) interactions between prescribed burning and agricultural haying were not significant in terms of either soil erosion or disturbance intensity although their means and variances differed significantly between the burned and non-burned areas and between the hayed and non-hayed areas.     

A phenomenographical approach to the study of pre-adolescents' use of maps in a wayfinding exercise in a suburban environment

This paper reports the investigative study, which used a phenomenographical approach, on how a group of 12-year-old students found their way around a designated suburban route by referring to a sequential listing of streets along the route and a street directory map of the suburban area. While the content of this study belongs to map use and wayfinding experience of the pre-adolescent students, the approach used is phenomenographic in that it identified the qualitatively different ways that the students experienced the suburban environment. The students' experiences were interpreted using a behaviourial matrix of their actions while they traversed the route. Qualitative variations in their approaches to wayfinding using maps were obtained from interviews which were conducted immediately after the students completed their route navigation. Four qualitatively different approaches were determined from their reflections of their own wayfinding behaviours. They are the restricted and neophytic approach; careful and sequential approach; deductive and familiarized approach; and the visualized and co-ordinated spatial approach. These approaches reflect the different behaviours and abilities of the students to: plan their route using a street directory map; plan the route street by street or a number of streets at a time; use street signs and other landmarks during the actual task; utilize local knowledge of the route; maintain their orientation; visualize spatial patterns; and use the scale on the map to help planning.     

Applying voting theory in natural resource management: a case of multiple-criteria group decision support

Voting theory has a lot in common with utility theory, and especially with group decision-making. An expected-utility-maximising strategy exists in voting situations, as well as in decision-making situations. Therefore, it is natural to utilise the achievements of voting theory also in group decision-making. Most voting systems are based on a single criterion or holistic preference information on decision alternatives. However, a voting scheme called multicriteria approval is specially developed for decision-making situations with multiple criteria. This study considers the voting theory from the group decision support point of view and compares it with some other methods applied to similar purposes in natural resource management. A case study is presented, where the approval voting approach is introduced to natural resources planning and tested in a forestry group decision-making process. Applying multicriteria approval method was found to be a potential approach for handling some challenges typical for forestry group decision support. These challenges include (i) utilising ordinal information in the evaluation of decision alternatives, (ii) being readily understandable for and treating equally all the stakeholders in possession of different levels of knowledge on the subject considered, (iii) fast and cheap acquisition of preference information from several stakeholders, and (iv) dealing with multiple criteria.     

A Knowledge-Based Systems Approach to Design of Spatial Decision Support Systems for Environmental Management

/ This paper describes a framework for designing spatial decision support systems for environmental management using a knowledge-based systems approach. An architecture for knowledge-based spatial decision supportsystems (KBSDSS) is presented that integrates knowledge-based systems with geographical information systems (GIS) and other problem-solving techniques. A method based on spatial influence diagrams is developed for representation of environmental problems. The spatial influence diagram provides an interface through which knowledge-based systems techniques can be applied to build capabilities for problem formulation, automated design, and execution of a solution process. In addition to the flexibility and developmental advantages of knowledge-based systems, the KBSDSS incorporates expert knowledge to provide assistance for structuring spatial influence diagrams and executing a solution process that automatically integrates the GIS, data base, knowledge base, and different types of models. The framework is illustrated with a system, known as the Islay Land Use Decision Support System (ILUDSS), designed to assist planners in strategic planning of land use for the development of the island of Islay, off the west coast of Scotland.KEY WORDS: Geographical information systems; Spatial decision support systems; Knowledge-based systems; Spatial influence diagrams; Environmental management     

Discretionary Judgement in Local Planning Authority Decision Making: Screening Development Proposals for Environmental Impact Assessment

Screening is a critical decision-stage in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process and involves the determination of whether or not a development proposal will require EIA. This decision requires a discretionary judgement on whether the development has the potential to cause ‘significant environmental effects’, and consequently there is potential for diversity to exist in formal requests for EIA. Drawing upon a comprehensive survey of Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) in England and Wales, this paper explores the characteristics of LPA screening decision making since the introduction of revised EIA regulations in March 1999. The paper starts with a theoretical overview of rationality, decision making and planning theory, followed by a brief review of the regulatory context of EIA screening. The research approach is then outlined and the survey findings are presented, including a detailed consideration of organizational and individual level analyses set within the context of planning theory judgement debates. Comparisons with other European countries are briefly made, before drawing conclusions and recommendations.