2 STRATEGIES FOR LEARNING A ROUTE IN A DRIVING SIMULATOR

The study of human navigation has long been dominated by the so-called stage theory, i.e. the notion that there are three distinct types of spatial knowledge (landmark, route, and survey knowledge), that are ac quired sequentially during spatial learning and development. Based on the results of a route learning experiment in a driving simulator, an alternative to the stage theory is proposed. The authors suggest that subjects follow either a visually dominated or a spatially dominated s trategy to solve a route-learning problem. In the visually dominated s trategy, subjects base their wayfinding decisions on visually recogniz ing decision points along a route; the decision points are not integra ted into any kind of survey representation. In the spatially dominated strategy, on the other hand, subjects represent the environment as a survey map right from the start; that is, they do not pass through a l andmark or route stage. These strategies may be subserved by different cortical areas recently characterized in neurophysiological studies o f animals solving maze problems. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.