scale and human perception

8/7/2019 Scale and Human Perception

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S c a le a n d M u l t ip l e P s y c h o l o g ie s o f S p a c e

D aniel R. M ontelloDepartment of G eography, University o f CaliforniaSanta Barbara, CA 93106 U SA

A b s t ra c t . The impor tance of sca le to the p sychology of space (perception ,thinking, m em ory , behavior) is discussed. It is maintained that scale has animportant influence on ho w hum ans treat spatial information and that severalqualitatively distinct scale classes of space exist . Past systems ofclassification are reviewed and some novel terms and distinctions areintroduced. Empirical evidence for the need to distinguish between spatialscales is presented. So m e implications o f these scale distinctions are brie flyconsidered and research needs identified.

1 Introduction~ , . .t h e S c h o o l s o f C a r to g r a p h y s k e tc h e d a M a p o f t h e E m p i r e w h i c hw a s o f t h e s i ze o f t h e E m p i r e a n d c o i n c i d e d a t e v e r y p o i n t w i t h i t. L e s sA d d i c t e d t o t h e S t u d y o f C a r t o g r a p h y , t h e F o l l o w i n g G e n e r a t i o n sc o m p r e h e n d e d t h a t t h i s d i l a t e d M a p w a s U s e l e s s a n d , n o t w i t h o u tI m p i e t y , d e l i v e r e d i t t o th e I n c l e m e n c i e s o f th e S u n a n d o f t h eW i n t e r s . "

S u ~ r e z M i r a n d a , On Exactitude in Science[2 , p . 123]

O f w h a t i m p o r t is s p a ti al s c a l e? A s a p r o b l e m f o r f o r m a l a n a l y s i s, t h e a b s o l u tes p a ti a l s c a l e o f a g e o m e t r i c o b j e c t is l a r g e l y i r r e le v a n t . T h e r e l a ti o n s h i p s b e t w e e ns i de s, a ng l e s , e t c . , a r e s c a l e - i nde p e nde n t ; the p ro pe r t i e s o f a n i s os c e l e s r i gh t - t r i a ng l eh o l d n o m a t t e r i ts s i ze . A s a p r o b l e m f o r g e o g r a p h y , t h e " s c i e n c e o f s p a c e " , s c a l e h a sa l w a y s b e e n a c o n c e r n o f c a r t o g r a p h i c c o d i n g a n d d e c o d i n g . B u t o n c e t h e s c a l e o ft h e c a r t o g r a p h i c r e p r e s e n t a ti o n is f i x e d , a ll o f t h e d e c i s i o n s m a d e w i t h t h e m a pbe c o m e l a rge l y s c a l e - i nde p e nde n t . A c l us t e r e d pa t t e rn is a c lu s t e r e d pa t t e rn . I t is t h i ss c a l e - i n d e p e n d e n c e o f m a p s , o f c o u r se , t h a t g i v e s t h e m t h e i r g r e a t p o w e r a n d u t i l it y .T h e y r e p r e s e n t s p a t ia l r e l a ti o n s a n d p a t t e rn s o f a n y s i ze a t w h a t e v e r c o n v e n i e n t s c a lef it s o n o u r la p s , in t h e g l o v e c o m p a r t m e n t s o f o u r c a rs , o r o n t h e c o m p u t e r m o n i t o r so f o u r g e o g r a p h i c i n f o r m a t io n s y s t em s .

S o p r o p e r t i e s o f s p a c e , o r r e l a ti o n s b e t w e e n o b j e c t s i n s p a c e , a r e t y p i c a l l y t r e a te da s s c a l e - in d e p e n d e n t w h e n s tu d i e d a s f o r m a l p r o b l e m s a n d , f o r th e m o s t p a r t, a sg e o g r a p h i c p ro b l e m s . B u t w h e n s tu d ie d a s a p r o b l e m f o r h u m a n p e r c e p t io n , t h o u g h t,a n d b e h a v i o r ( i. e ., w h e n s tu d i e d a s a psychological p r o b l e m ) , i t is t h e t h e s i s o f th e


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pr e se n t e s sa y tha t spa c e i s no t s c a le - inde pe nde n t . "S pa c e i s no t spa c e i s no t spa c e "w h e n i t c o m e s t o h u m a n p s y c h o l o g y . I n s t e ad , m u l t i p l e s p a ti a l p s y c h o l o g i e s a rec a l le d f o r . A n d t h e s e w i l l n o t d i f f e r i n a m e r e l y q u a n t i ta t iv e w a y , b u t a s I h o p e t oshow, in a qua l i t a t ive wa y . Th i s the s i s i s no t pa r t i c u la r ly nove l , a s suc h . B e low Ir e v i e w p r e v i o u s c o n c e p t u a l d i s ti n c ti o n s a b o u t s c a l e s o f p s y c h o l o g i c a l s p a c e b u t a ls oi n t r o d u c e s o m e t e r m s a n d d i s ti n c t io n s o f m y o w n . F u r t h e r m o r e , I a d d s o m ee m p i r ic a l j u s t i f i c a t i o n t o t h e c o n c e p t u a l j u s t if i c a ti o n s f o r c l a s s i f y i n g p s y c h o l o g i c a lspa c e in to m ul t ip l e sc a le c la s se s . F ina l ly , t he im por ta nc e o f the i s sue i s c ons ide r e d ,a nd so m e p r e s s ing q ue s t ions f o r fu tu r e r e se a rc h a r e ou t l ine d .

A t e r m i n o l o g i c a l c o n f u s i o n m u s t b e a d d r e ss e d a t t h e o u t s e t. M y d i c t i o n a r y d e f in e sscale a s ( a m o n g o t h e r t h i n g s ) th e " r a ti o b e t w e e n t h e d i m e n s i o n s o f a r e p r e s e n t at i o na nd those o f the th ing tha t i t r e p r e se n t s " , i n o the r wor ds , t he relative s i z e o f ar e p r e se n ta t ion . Thu s , a large-scale map i s l ar ge c om pa r e d to the spa c e i t r e p r e se n ts ,a t l e a s t r e l a t ive to a small-scale map. O f c o u r s e , e v e n v e r y l a r g e - s c a l e m a p s a r ec o m m o n l y m u c h s m a l l e r t h a n t h e s p a ce s t h e y r e p re s en t : B e h a v i o r a l s c i e n ti s ts , o n t h eo t h e r h a n d , s p e a k o f large-scale spaces, spa c e s tha t a r e re l a t ive ly la r ge c o m p a r e d tosmall-scale spaces. B u t m or e tha n a s t a t e m e n t a bou t the r e l a t ive s i ze s o f spa c e s , a s Id i sc uss be low , th i s te r m ino lo gy r e fl e c t s a c onc e r n f o r the s i ze o f a spa c e r e l a t ive to ape r son , m or e p r e c i se ly , t o a pe r son ' s body a nd a c t ion ( e .g . , l ook ing , wa lk ing ) . Thusla r ge - sc a le spa c e s a r e l a r ge r e l a t ive to a pe r son . La r g e - sc a le spa c e s m igh t be l e s sa m b i g u o u s l y t e rm e d " l ar g e -s i z e sp a c e s ", b u t s u c h a t e r m i n o l o g y i g n o r e s t h e c r i t ic a lr o le tha t s c a le r e l a t ive to the o r ga n i sm p la ys in the psyc ho log ic a l p r ope r t ie s o fspa c e s d i f f e r in g in s i z e [ c f . 25 ] . Th e c l a s s i f i c a to r y t e r m s I i n t r oduc e be lo w wi l la v o i d t h i s c o n f u s i o n b e c a u se t h e w o r d scale i s n o t u s e d i n t h e m .2 P r e v i o u s S c a l e D i s ti n c t i o n sR e s e a r c h e rs s t u d y i n g o r ie n t a t io n a n d n a v i g a t i o n h a v e l o n g m a d e a d i s t i n c ti o nbe tw e e n "p r ox im a te " o r "ne a r " spa c e a nd "d i s t al " o r " f a r " spa ce [ se e 23 , 24 , a nd thee a r l i e r r e f e r e nc e s c i t e d the r e ] . Th e f o r m e r c a n be a ppr e he nd e d f r o m one spo t ; t hela t t e r r e qu i r e loc om ot ion f o r the i r a ppr e he ns ion . I n the l i t e r a tu r e on d i s t a nc ee s t im a t ion , suc h a d i s t inc t ion i s m a de be tw e e n "pe r c e p tua l " a nd " c og n i t ive " d i s t a nc e[ e .g . , 3 ]. P ia g e t d id no t e xp l i c i t l y c ons ide r the im por ta nc e o f s i ze o r sc a le pe r se inh i s e x t e n s iv e b o d y o f w o r k o n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f s p a ti a l k n o w l e d g e [ e. g ., 1 9], o t h e rt h a n t h e p r o b l e m o f t ra n s l a t in g b e t w e e n d i f fe r e n t s c a le s . H e d i d i m p l y t h a t s c a l e w a si m p o r t a n t , h o w e v e r , i n s o f a r a s a m a t u r e " E u c l i d ea n " k n o w l e d g e o f s p a t i al l a y o u t ,invo lv ing e x te r na l ly - ba se d c o - o r d ina te sys t e m s o r r e f e re nc e f r a m e s , de pe nds in h i st h e o r y o n e x p e r i e n c e w i t h m u l t i p l e p e r s p e c t i v e s . K n o w l e d g e o f s m a l l e r o b j e c t s i nthe m se lve s doe s no t r e qu i re th i s .

The m os t in f lue n t i a l wo r k on th i s top ic i s c e r t a in ly the c h a p te r by I t t e l son [ 11 ] . I ni t, h e c o m p a r e d " e n v i r o n m e n t a l " s p a c e w i t h t h e o b j e c t s p a c e o f t ra d i ti o n a l s p a c epe r c e p t ion r e se a r c h . He d i sc usse d se ve r a l spe c ia l a spe c t s o f e nv i r onm e n t s a s spa c e sa n d u r g e d t h e n e e d t o s t u d y s p a ti a l p e r c e p t i o n w i t h i n t h e c o n t e x t o f e n v i r o n m e n t s .Un l ike ob je c t s , t he e nv i r onm e n t " su r r ounds , e n f o lds , e ngu l f s " [ p .13 ] . The r o le o fsc a le i s c r i t i c a l : "Env i r onm e n t s a r e ne c e ssa r i ly l a r ge r tha n tha t wh ic h the y


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surround. . . large in re la t ion to man. . . . large enough to permit , and indeed require ,movement in order to encounte r a l l a spec ts of the s i tua t ion . . . . l a rge-sca leenvi ronments , extending f rom rooms through houses , ne ighborhoods , c i t ies ,count rys ides , to the w hole un iverse in s ize .... requi re [s ] som e process o f spa t ia l andtempora l summat ion" [p .13] . In addi t ion , I t t e l son noted tha t informat ion aboutenvi ronments i s acqui red mul t imodal ly , not through a s ingle sense , and tha t morein fo rma t ion i s p rov ided than can be p rocessed in any rea sonab ly f i n i t e pe r iod o ft ime . These d is t inc t ions c lea r ly depend to a la rge extent on the re la t ive s ize ofenvi ronm enta l and objec t spaces .

Many wri te rs have c i ted I t te l son ' s d i s t inc t ions [1 , 13 , 25] , typica l ly in order tocharac terize " large-scale" and "small-scale" spac es. Es pec ial ly imp ortant hav e be enI t te l son ' s d i s t inc t ions about the oppor tuni ty to v iew la rge-sca le space f rom mul t ip levantage points , and the need for locom ot ion and informat ion in tegra t ion ov er t ime toapprehend la rge-sca le space . The ro le of d i f fe rent m otor sys tem s in the ex plora t ionof space s d i f fe r ing in sca le has a l so f requent ly bee n em phas ized [e.g ., 2 0] .

M andle r [16 ] d is tinguished three c lasses of psychologica l spaces : smal l - , medium -,and la rge-sca le . Smal l -sca le spaces a re apprehended f rom a s ingle perspec t ive ,outs ide of the space i t se l f (e .g . , t ab le - top models ) . Medium-sca le spaces a reapprehended through loco m ot ion about the space , bu t spa tia l re la t ionships w i th inthem can s t i l l be d i rec t ly observed f rom one point (e .g . , rooms) . The spa t ia lre la t ionships wi th in la rge-sca le spaces cannot be d i rec t ly observed but must be"const ruc ted" ov er t ime f rom lo com ot ion wi th in the space (e ,g ., houses , towns) .Though no t fo rma l ly pa r t o f he r c l a s s i f i c a t i on , Mand le r a cknow ledged tha t ve ryla rge-sca le spaces such as s ta tes and count r ies probably cons t i tu te a spec ia l casebecause t hey a re norma l ly apprehended v i a m aps .

As d id Mandler [16] , G~iding and Gol ledge [6] fur ther subdivided I t te l son ' scon cept o f envi ronm ents . Th ey dis tinguished be tw een smal l - , med ium-, and la rge-sca le " env i ronment s ". A room w ould be an exam ple o f a sma l l -sca le env i ronment , abu i ld ing o r ne ighborhoo d w o uld b e med ium-sca l e env ironment s , and spaces a t t hesca le of c i t ies and beyond a re la rge-sca le envi ronments . G~ding and Gol ledge d idno t spec i fy exac t ly upon w ha t t he se d i s ti nc ti ons w e re ba sed . O ne impor t an tconsequence o f t he d i s ti nc ti on , how eve r , i s t hat know ledge o f l a rge -sca leenvi ronm ents i s lea rned in a ver y "piecemeal" fashion and i s h ie ra rchica l lyorganized.

Zubin has d iscussed an in te res t ing c lass i f ica t ion of sca les re levant to spa t ia llanguage [ repor ted in 1 7] . He ident i f ied fo ur ca tegor ies of spaces : Ty pes A, B, C ,and D . T ype A spaces a re sma l le r t han o r equa l in s i z e to t he hu man bod y ; examp le sinc lude pens and other hand-s ized objec ts . They a rc v is ib le wi th in a s ta t ic v i sua lf ie ld and can be m anipula ted . T ype B spaces a re la rger than the hum an b od y and c anbe v iew ed f rom a s ingle point ; exam ples inc lude t rees , the outs ide o f a house , and amoun ta in . They can a l so be v i ew ed , a t l e a s t f rom one pe rspec t ive , w i th in a s t a t i cvisua l f ie ld , but they cannot be manipula ted . Type C spaces (he a l so ca l l s them" scenes" ) a re qu i t e a b i t l a rge r t han the human body and mus t be scanned to beperce ived; examples inc lude a la rge room, a f ie ld , and a smal l va l ley . The i rapprehens ion as s ingle spaces i s a cons t ruc t ive process . F ina l ly , Type D spaces (he


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a l s o c a ll s t h e se " t er r it o ri e s ") a r e v e r y m u c h l a r g e r t h a n t h e h u m a n b o d y ; e x a m p l e sinc lud e a f o r e s t , a c i ty , a s ta t e , and a n oc e a n . The se spa c e s c a n no t be pe r c e ive d a s au n i t , a c c o r d i n g to Z u b i n .3 A ( S l ig h t l y ) N o v e l C l a s s i fi c a t io nT h e d i s t i n c t i o n s m a d e b y p r e v i o u s a u t h o r s p r o v i d e i n s i g h t i n t o t h e i s s u e ss u r r o u n d i n g a c l a s s i f i ca t i o n o f p s y c h o l o g i c a l s p a ce s ( a n d o f c o u r s e t h e i m p e t u s t oc on s ide r suc h a c l a s s i f i c a t ion in the f i r s t p l a c e ) . M y o w n c la s s i f i c a t ion l a r ge lyi n t e g r a te s t h e d i s t in c t i o n s m a d e b y e a r li e r w r it e rs a n d p r o v i d e s s o m e n o v e l t e r m s f o rthe c l a s se s tha t f oc us on the i r f unc t ion a l p r ope r t i es . I d i s t ingu i sh f ou r m a jo r c l a s se so f p s y c h o l o g i c a l s p a c e s : f igural, vista, environmental, an d geographical. Id i s t in g u i s h t h e s e o n t h e b a s i s o f t h e projective s i ze o f the spa c e r e l a t ive to the h um a nbody , no t i t s a c tua l o r a ppa r e n t a bso lu te s i z e . La r ge spa c e s v ie we d f r om a d i s t a nc ee f f e c t i v e l y b e c o m e s m a l l sp a c e s ( m o r e o n t h i s i n m y s e c ti o n b e l o w o n r e s ea r c hd i r e c t ions ) . The m os t c r i t ic a l f unc t iona l c onse que n c e s o f the r e l a t ive p r o je c t ive s i z eo f a s p a c e a re t h e m e a n s b y w h i c h i t m a y b e a p p r e h e n d e d a n d i t s c o g n i ti v e t r e a t m e n tb y t h e m i n d .Figura l s p a c e i s p r o j e c t iv e l y s m a l l e r t h a n t h e b o d y ; i t s p r o p e rt ie s m a y b e d i r e c t lyp e r c e i v e d f r o m o n e p l a c e w i t h o u t a p p r e ci a b le l o c o m o t i o n . I t m a y b e u s e f u l l ys u b d i v i d e d i n to pic toria l a nd object spa c e s , t he f o r m e r r e f e r ring to sm a l l f l a t sp a c e sa nd the l a t t e r t o sm a l l 3 - D spa c e s . F igu r a l spa c e i s t he spa c e o f p i c tu r e s , sm a l lo b j e c ts , d i s t a n t la n d m a r k s , a n d t h e l i ke . A l t h o u g h o n e m a y s o m e t i m e s h a p t i c a l l ym a n ipu la t e ( touc h) ob je c t s to a ppr e he nd the i r spa t i a l p r ope r t i e s , no a ppr e c ia b lem o v e m e n t o f t h e e n t ir e b o d y i s r e q u ir e d .Vista spa c e i s p r o je c t ive ly a s l a r ge o r l a r ge r tha n the body bu t c a n be v i sua l lya p p r e h e n d e d f r o m a s i n g le p l a c e w i t h o u t a p p r e ci a b le l o c o m o t i o n . I t is t h e s p a c e o fs ing le r oom s , tow n squa r e s , sm a l l va l l e ys , a nd ho r i z ons .Environmental spa c e i s p r o je c t ive ly l a rge r tha n the bo dy a nd su r r ounds i t . I t i s i nf a c t t oo l a r ge a nd o the r wise obsc ur e d to a ppr e he nd d i r e c t ly w i thou t c ons ide r a b lel o c o m o t i o n , a n d i s t h u s u s u a l l y t h o u g h t t o r e q u ir e t h e i n t e g ra t io n o f i n f o r m a t i o n o v e rs i g n i f i c a n t p e r i o d s o f t i m e . I t i s t h e s p a c e o f b u i l d in g s , n e i g h b o r h o o d s , a n d c it i es .A l t h o u g h e n v i r o n m e n t a l sp a c e s c a n n o t b e a p p r e h e n d e d i n b r i e f t i m e p e r io d s , Im a in ta in tha t t he i r spa t i a l p r ope r t i e s c a n be a ppr e he nde d f r om d i r e c t e xpe r i e nc ea l o n e , g i v e n e n o u g h e x p o s u r e t o t h e m .Geographical s p a c e is p r o j e c ti v e l y m u c h l a r g e r t h a n t h e b o d y a n d c a n n o t b ea p p r e h e n d e d d i r e c t l y t h r o u g h l o c o m o t i o n ; r a th e r, i t m u s t b e l e ar n e d v i a s y m b o l i cr e p r es e n t a ti o n s s u c h a s m a p s o r m o d e l s t h a t e s s e n ti a l ly re d u c e t h e g e o g r a p h i c a lspa c e to f igu r a l spa c e . Th i s be a r s r e pe a t ing : M a ps r e p r e se n t e nv i r onm e n ta l a ndge og r a ph ic spa c e s , bu t a r e the m se lve s in s t a nc e s o f p i c to r i a l spa c e ! I t he r e f o r ee x p e c t t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l s t u d y o f m a p u s e t o d r a w d i r e c t ly o n t h e p s y c h o l o g y o fp i c to r i al s p a c e r a t h e r t h a n o n t h e p s y c h o l o g y o f e n v i r o n m e n t a l s p a c e . S t a te s ,c o u n t r i e s , a n d t h e s o l a r s y s t e m a r e g o o d e x a m p l e s o f g e o g r a p h i c a l s p a c e s ( n o tw i t h s t a n d i n g t h e e a r t h - b o u n d r e f e r e n ce i n t h e w o r d geographic) . The s u r f a ce o f t h ee a r th a s se e n f r om a n a i r p la ne , how e ve r , w ou ld c on s t i tu t e a v i s t a spa c e be c a use o f it s


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sm a l l p r o je c t ive s i z e a nd ou r c onse que n t a b i l i t y to a pp r e he nd i t d i r e c t ly f r om ours e a t in t h e p l a n e . O n e p o i n t o f c la r if i ca t io n : G e o g r a p h e rs h a v e v e r y c o m m o n l ys t u d ie d s p a c e s a t w h a t I h a v e d e f i n e d a s a g e o g r a p h i c s c a l e. B u t b y c h o o s i n g t h i sl a be l , I do no t m e a n in the l e a s t t o d i c t a t e the " a ppr opr i a t e " spa t i a l s c a le f o rg e o g r a p h e rs . I h a v e n o p r o b l e m w i t h th e v i e w t h a t g e o g r ap h e r s c a n p r o f i t a b l y a p p l ythe i r spa t io - t e m po r a l t oo l k i t t o wh a te ve r sc a le the y wish . I nde e d , a s I ha ve sa id , them a p s a n d c o m p u t e r i m a g e s s t u d ie d s o o f t e n b y g e o g r a p h e r s a r e i n st a n c e s o f f i g u r alspaces .

4 S om e Em p i r i c a l Ev i d e n c eI n o w r e v i e w s o m e e m p i r i c a l e v i d e n c e t h a t j u s t if i e s c l a s s i fy i n g p s y c h o l o g i c a l s p a c ein to se ve r a l c l a s se s on the ba s i s o f s c a le . Ve r y l i t t l e r e se a r c h ha s be e n donee xp l i c i t ly f o r the pu r pose o f e s t a b l i sh ing c l as se s o f p syc ho log ic a l s c a le s ; t he i s sue i sa po te n t i a l ly fr u i t f u l one f o r ge ne r a t ing r e se a r c ha b le que s t ions . G ive n th i s pa uc i ty o fr e se a r c h a nd the l im i t e d spa c e o f the p r e se n t f o r m a t , I w i l l on ly b r i e f ly d i sc uss th r e eb o d i e s o f e v i d e n c e : ( 1 ) t h e e f f e c t s o f l e a r n i n g f r o m m a p s v s . f r o m d i r e c te nv i r on m e n ta l e xpe r i e nc e , ( 2 ) d i f f e re nc e s in the f r a m e s - o f - r e f e r e nc e use d too r ga n iz e a nd m a n ipu la t e spa t i a l know le dge a t d i f f e r e n t s c a le s, a nd ( 3 ) a t t e m pts tom e a sur e ind iv idua l d i f f e r e nc e s in spa ti a l a b i l i t y a t d i f f e r e n t s c a les .

S o m e o f th e e a r l i e st w o r k t o l o o k a t m a p s v s . d i r e c t en v i r o n m e n t a l e x p e r i e n c e w a sdon e by Eva ns a nd P e z de k [ 4 ; se e a lso , 26 ] . The y ha d sub je c t s jud ge the a c c u r a c y o fr e l a t ive pos i t ions o f tr i a ds o f US c i t ie s . T im e to r e spond wa s a l i ne a r ly inc r e a s ingf unc t ion o f the de g r e e o f r o t a t ion o f the t ri a d f r om 0 ~ ( no r th to the top , a s in s t a nda r dc a r to g r a p h i c c o n v e n t i o n ). T h i s p a t te r n w a s a l so f o u n d w h e n s u b je c ts j u d g e d t ri a d s o fc a m p u s b u i l d i n g s t h a t w e r e l e a r n e d f r o m a m a p . H o w e v e r , i t w a s n o t f o u n d w h e nsub je c t s l e a r ne d the c a m pus l a you t f r om d i r e c t e xpe r i e nc e ; r e sponse - t im e wa sr o u g h l y e q u a l n o m a t t e r i n w h a t o r i e n t a t i o n t h e s t im u l i w e r e p r e s en t e d . E v a n s a n dP e z d e k sug ge s te d tha t t he m u l t ip l e pe r spe c t ive s o f d i re c t e xpe r i e nc e w a s r e spons ib lef o r the l a c k o f a n alignm ent effect.

Ho we ve r , a n im por ta n t pa pe r by P r e s son e t a l . [21 ] p r e se n t s s t rong e v ide nc e tha tm u l t ip l i c i ty o f pe r spe c t ive s do e s no t , i n i t s e lf , e xp la in h ow sc a le in f lue nc e s the w a yw e t r e a t spa t i a l i n f o r m a t ion . Th e y ha d sub je c t s l e a r n s im ple pa ths m a r ke d on p la s t i cs h e et s , im a g i n e t h e y w e r e s t a n d i n g at o n e o f t h e p l a c e s o n t h e p a t h , a n d t h e n m a k ed i r e c t i o n a l j u d g m e n t s b e t w e e n p l a c e s o n t h e p a t h s . T h u s , t h e o r i e n t a t i o n s o f t h el e a rn e d s p a ce a n d t h e j u d g m e n t s p a c e c o u l d b e a l ig n e d o r m i s a li g n e d . S e v e r a la s p e ct s o f t h e p a t h s a n d p r o c e d u re s w e r e s y s t e m a t i c a l l y a n d i n d e p e n d e n t l y v a r ie d :the a bso lu te s i z e o f the sp a c e f r om w hic h the pa th wa s l e a r ne d ( . 36 m 2 to 13 .7 m 2 ,i . e. , r a ng ing f r om "m a p s iz e " to " r oom s i z e " ), wh e the r the spa c e w a s de sc r ibe d a s a" m a p " o r a " p a t h ", a n d t h e a m o u n t o f s c al e t ra n s l a t io n n e c e s s a r y t o m a t c h t h e s p a c eto a no the r pa th . I n a l l c a se s , the spa c e s w e r e l e a r ne d by in spe c t ion f r om a s ing leva n ta g e po in t . On ly the a bso lu te s i z e o f the pa th spa c e ( the p la s ti c she e t ) i n f lue nc e dthe oc c u r r e nc e o f a l ignm e n t e f f e c t s . Th a t i s, sub jec t s r e t ri e ve d spa t i a l kno wle dge ina n orientation-specific m a n n e r w h e n t h e y l e a r n e d i t f r o m a s m a l l s p a t i a lr e p r e se n ta tion ; the y m a de l a r ge e r r o rs wh e n a ske d to ind ic a te d i r e c t ions a s i f t he y


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f unc t ion o ffac t tha t as o m e w h e r espaces .

we re v iew ing the space f rom a misa l igned p erspec t ive (e .g . , they lea rned the sp acewi th po in t 3 in f ron t o f po in t 2 , bu t wh e n judg ing d i re c t ions , t he y we r e a ske d toim a g ine the y we r e s t a nd ing so tha t 2 wa s in f r on t o f 3 ) . Whe n sub je c t s l e a r ne d thespace f rom a la rge representa t ion , on the o ther hand, they re t r ieved spa t ia lknowle dge in a n orientation-free manner ; the i r e r rors d id not d i f fe r in s ize as a

the pe r spe c t ive f r om whic h the y we r e a ske d to im a g ine the spa c e . Theswi tch f rom or ienta t ion-spec i f ic to or ienta t ion- f ree coding occur red

around 5 -6 m 2 i s cons is tent wi th the im por tance of bod y s ize in sca l ingE m p i r i c a l w o r k o n frames-of-reference pr ov ide s a no the r body o f e v ide nc e f o r the

impo r tance o f d is t inguishing psy cholog ica l spaces according to sca le. W hi le spa t ialpercept ion and knowledge a t any sca le involves re fe rence f rames ( the poin ts ,objec ts , or axes re la t ive to which spa t ia l loca t ions a re def ined) , the par t icu la r type off rame d i f fe rs a t d i f fe rent scales . M odels o f spa t ia l percept ion and kn ow ledgec om m only a c knowle dge th i s [ e .g . , 5 ] . Ac r e do lo [ 1 ] r e v ie we d e v ide nc e f r om he r l a bshowing tha t t he t e nde nc y to c ode spa c e egocentrically (wi th re fe rence to one ' s ownloca t ion) depends in par t on sca le . Hut tenlocher and Presson [10] asked subjec ts toanswer ques t ions about objec t loca t ions in a smal l tab le - top space vs . a la rger roomspa c e . The que s t ions c ou ld be a nswe r e d by m e n ta l ly m ov ing e i the r the ob je c t a r r a yor one 's body ; the f o r m e r wa s m o r e c om m o n wi th the sm a l l spa c e , t he l a t te r w i th ther oom spa c e .

Ano the r p r ope r ty o f r e f e re nc e f r a m e s tha t has be e n inve s t iga te d i s t he w a y the yexpla in pa t te rns of d istor t ions in loca t iona l judgm ents . Hu t tenloch er e t a l . [9] foundtha t sub jec ts d is tor ted the i r mem or ies for the loca t ion o f dots wi th in a smal l c i rc letowa rds the cen te r axes of the four quadrants o f the c i rc le ( i .e . , towards th ediagona ls) [but see 27] . A very d i f fe rent pa t te rn was found by Sada l la and Monte l lo[22] , however , who had v is ion- res t r ic ted subjec ts es t imate headings a f te r walking apa thway in a la rge room. The i r subjec ts d is tor ted pa th headings towards theo r thogona l qua dr a n t bounda r i e s the m se lve s ( de f ine d by o r thogona l a xe s e m a na t ingf rom the subjec ts ' bodies) .

A th i rd body of evidence sugges ts tha t ways tha t indiv idua ls d i f fe r in the i r ab i l i t iesto so lve spa t ia l problems may be d i f fe rent a t d i f fe rent spa t ia l sca les . There has beensurpr is ingly l it t le wor k us ing t radi t iona l p sycho metr ic paper -and-pen c i l tes ts(p ic tor ia l spaces) o f spa t ia l ab i l i ty to assess per form ance in envi ronmenta l spaces , ontasks such as naviga t ion o r landma rk loca t ion . Perhaps an uncr it ica l as sump t ion o fthe i r re levance o f sca le has opera ted here . One extens iv e a t temp t to do th is revea ledonly a ver y w eak predic t ion of envi ronm enta l ab i l i ties wi th p ic tor ia l me asures [15].Th i s wou ld be e xpe c te d i f e nv i r onm e n ta l spa c e i s i n f a c t p syc ho log ic a l ly d i s t inc tf rom pic tor ia l space . S imi la r ly , Loomis e t a l . [14] per formed a pr inc ipa l -c om p one n t s a na lysi s on pe r f o r m a nc e o f se ve ra l t a b le- top a nd r o om spa ti a l t asks . I nthe resul t ing fac tor s t ruc ture , the tab le - top tasks grouped toge ther in one component ,a nd the r oom ta sks g r oupe d toge the r in two o the r c om pone n t s . M or e wor k onindiv idua l d i f fe rences in envi ronm enta l spa t ial ab i l i t ies is c lea rly ca l led for .


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5 I m p o r t a n c e o f th e I s s u eIn th i s sec t ion , I br ie f ly sugges t some answers to the ques t ion: Why i s the topic ofsca le and psychologica l spaces important? I provide three reasons ; o thers couldu n d o u b t e d l y b e g i v en ,

5 . 1 Ef fec t ive Spa t i a l C om m unic a t ion : C lea rly , d i f fe rences be tw een spa t ia l s ca le sshould have impl ica t ions for spa t ia l communica t ion and the opt imal des ign of avar ie ty of spa t ia l informat ion sys tems. Examples inc lude maps , o ther naviga t ionguides such as persona l nav iga t ion sys tems, and e ffec t ive user-in te rfaces for G IS. Aconcern for e f fec t ive communica t ion involves both l inguis t ic and nonl inguis t icinformation [see 17, 12].

5 .2 V al id i ty of S im ula t ions : This reason par tia l ly ov er laps wi th the f irst , thoughthe emphas is here i s pr imari ly methodologica l . What a re the impl ica t ions for theva l id i ty of spa tial s imula t ions i f space a t d i f fe rent sca les i s processed d i f fe rent ly? Togive a com m on exam ple , research tha t uses maps , m odels , or o ther figura l spaces tos tudy the psycho logy o f env ironmenta l space m ay b e qu es ti onab le . Fo r i n s tance ,Hanley and Levine [8] used table - top spaces to make genera l s ta tements aboutspa t ia l l ea rning and "cogni t ive maps" . McClurg and Chai l l~ [18] provoca t ive lyent i t led the i r paper "Computer games: Envi ronments for deve loping spa t ia lcogni t ion?" . Cons idera t ions of sca le sugges t tha t computer sc reens a re notenvi ronments . Of course , th i s i ssue i s not only a methodologica l one , s imula t ionsa lso have prac t ica l appl ica t ions s u ch as fl ight s imula t ion t ra in ing. Resea rchcomparing resul t s us ing s imula t ion and rea l envi ronments i s qui te germane to theques t ion o f sca le in spat ia l p sych olog y.

5 .3 Sca le and Spa t ia l Choice : Models of spa t ia l choice [e .g . , 7] incorpora tefac tors such as t ime and e ffor t tha t a re sca le -dependent . Thus , we wouldn ' t expec tcho ice pa t te rns and dec is ion processes under ly ing choice to b e ident ica l a t d i f fe rentscales.6 R e s e a r c h D i r e c t i o n sI conc lude by o f fe r ing some comment s on the impor t an t d i rec t i ons fo r fu tu reresearch . T he m ost c r i ti ca l is ce r ta in ly to obta in mo re eviden ce o f the va l id i ty andut i l ity of a qu a l i ta t ive sca le c lass i f ica t ion . B oth n ew f indings and repl ica tions o fex i s ti ng t imin gs a re needed . H ow m any c l a s ses a re nece ssa ry and w ha t shou ld t heybe? O f par t icula r importance to theor ies o f spa t ia l l ea rning a re qu es t ions per ta in ingto w ha t humans can l e a rn abou t env i ronmenta l and geograph ic space s f rom d i rec texpe r i ence. To w ha t ex t en t c an the l ayou t o f a c i t y be le a rned w i thou t maps? W hendoes a space becom e too l arge t o l e a rn d i rect ly ( t hus becom ing a geograph ic space )?Fina l ly , wh at i s the re levant w ay to trea t s ize in such a schem e? I proposed abo vetha t projec t ive s ize i s the de te rmining fac tor in how spaces a re psychologica l lyt rea ted . I t i s a l so p laus ib le , howev er , tha t app arent or v i sua l s i z e i s the c ruc ia l fac tor( the s ize the space appears to be , regardless o f it s projec t ive s ize ). Is a c i ty seen f roman airplane t reated as a vista sp ace or an environm ental sp ace?


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R e f e r e n c e s. L .P . Acredolo: Small - and la rge-sca le spa t ia l concepts in infancy and

chi ldhood. In : L .S . L iben, A.H. Pa t te rson, N. Newcombe (eds . ) : Spa t ia lrepresenta t ion and behavior ac ross the l i fe span. New York: Academic 1981,pp. 63-81

2. J .L . Borges , A.B. Casares (eds . ) : Extraordinary ta les . New York: Herder andHerder (1971)3. D. C ante r, S . Tagg: Dis tance es t imat ion in c i ties . Environm ent and Behav ior 7 ,59-80 (1975)4 . G .W. Evans , K . Pezdek : Cogn i t ive mapp ing : Kno wledge o f re al - w or d d i s tanceand loca t ion informat ion. Journa l of Exper imenta l Psychology: HumanLearnin g and M em ory 6 , 13-24 (1980)5. J .A. Fe ldman: Four f rames suff ice : A provis iona l model of v is ion and space .

The B ehaviora l and Bra in Sc iences 8 , 265- 289 (1985)6, T. G~ifling, R.G . G olledge: Env ironm ental perce ption and cogn ition. In: E.H.

Zube , G .T. Mo ore (eds .) : Advances in environm ent , behavior , and des ign (Vol .2) . N ew Y ork: P lenu m 1987, pp. 203-236

7. R.G. Gol ledge , G. Rushton (eds . ) : Spa t ia l choice and spa t ia l behavior .Colu mbu s: Ohio Sta te Univers i ty (1976). G.L. Hanley, M. Levine : Spa t ia l problem solving: The in tegra t ion of

independen t ly l e arned cogn i t ive maps . Me mo ry & Cogni t ion 11, 415-422(1983)9. J . Hu t tenlocher , L .V. H edges , S . Duncan: Ca tegor ies and part icula rs : P rototype

effec ts in es t imat ing spa t ia l loca t ion. Psychologica l Review 98, 352-376 (1991)10. J . Hut tenlocher , C.C. Presson: The coding and t ransformat ion of spa t ia linformat ion. Cogni t ive Psycholog y 11, 375-394 (1979)11. W.H. I t te lson: Environment percept ion and contemporary perceptua l theory .

In : W.H. I t te lson (ed .) : Env ironm ent and cogni t ion. New Yo rk: Sem inar 1973,pp. 1-1912. W. Kuhn, M.J . Egenhofer : Visua l in te r faces to geometry (NCGIA Technica l

Paper 91-18). N a t iona l Cente r for Geographic Inform at ion and Analys is (1991)13. B. Kuipers : The "map in the head" metaphor . Environment and Behavior 14,202-220 (1982)


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14. J .M. Loomis, R.L. Klatzky, R.G. Golledge, J .G. Cicinell i , J .W. Pellegrino,P .A. Fry: Nonvisua l naviga t ion by bl ind and s ighted: Assessment of pa thintegra t ion abi l i ty . Journa l of Exper imenta l Psychology: Genera l 122, 73-91(1993)

15. C.A. Lorenz , U, Ne isser : Ecologica l and ps ycho me tr ic d im ens ions of spa t ia labi li ty (Rep. No. 10). At lanta , GE: Em ory U nivers ity , Em ory C ogni t ion Projec t(1986)

16. J .M. Mandler : Representa t ion. In : P . Mussen (ed . ) : Handbook of chi ldpsycho logy, Vol . I I I (4 th ed . ). Ne w Y ork: John Wiley & Sons 1983, pp. 420-494

17. D.M. M ark, A.U. Frank, M.J . Egenh ofer , S .M. Freund schuh, M. M cGranaghan,R.M. White : Languages of spa t ia l re la t ions : In i t ia t ive Two spec ia l is t mee t ingrepor t (NCGIA Technica l Paper 89-2) . Na t iona l Cente r for GeographicInform at ion and An alys is (1989)

18. P .A. McC lurg , C. Cha i l l r: Com puter games: Env ironm ents for deve lop ingspa tia l cogni t ion? Journa l of Educa t iona l C om putin g Research 3 , 95-111(1987)

19. J . P iage t , B. Inhe lder : The chi ld ' s concep t ion of space (F.J . Lan gdo n & J .L .Lunzer , Trans . ) . New York: W.W. Nor ton & Company. (Or igina l workpublished 1948) (1967)

20. H .L. P ick , J . J. L ockm an: Fro m frames o f re fe rence to spa t ia l representa t ions .In : L .S . L iben, A.H. P a t terson, N. N ewc om be (eds .) : Spa t ia l representa t ion andbehavior ac ross the li fe span. New Y ork: Acad emic 1981, pp. 39-61

21. C.C. Presson, N. DeLange, M.D. Hazelrigg: Orientation specif ic ity in spatia lmemory : Wha t makes a pa th d i f f e ren t f rom a map o f the pa th? Journa l o fExpe r imen ta l Psycho logy i Lea rn ing , M emory , and Co gn i t ion 15, 887-897(1989)

22. E .K. Sada l la , D.R. Monte l lo : Rem em ber in g changes in d irec tion. Environ me ntand Beh avior 21, 346-363 (1989)

23. C. I . Sands tr rm : Orienta t ion in the present space . S tockholm: Alm qvis t &W iksell (1951)

24. F .N. Shemyakin: Or ienta t ion in space . In : B.G. Anan 'yev e t a l . (eds . ) :Psychologica l sc ience in the USSR (Vol . 1) . Washington: U.S . Off . of Tech.Services (No. 11466) 1961, pp. 186-255


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25. A.W . Siege l : The exte rna l iza t ion o f cogni t ive maps by c hi ldren and adul ts : Insearch of ways to ask be t te r ques t ions . In : L .S . L iben, A.H. Pa t te rson, N.N ew com be (eds .) : Spa t ial representa t ion and behavior ac ross the l ife span. New.Y ork: Academ ic 1981, pp. 167-194

26. P .W. Thorndyke , B. Hayes-Roth: Dif fe rences in spa t ia l knowledge acquiredfro m maps and naviga t ion. Cogni t ive Psych ology 14, 560-589 (1982)27. B. Tversky, DJ . Schiano: Perceptua l and conceptua l fac tors in d is tor t ions in

memory fo r g raphs and maps . Journa l o f Expe r imen ta l Psycho logy : Gene ra l118, 387-398 (1989)

scale and human perception

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