Flexibility of mental representations of spatial information depending on the perspective during learning

View-based theories of the mental representation of spatial information cla im that distinct views experience during learning are represented separatel y in memory. Networks of such views are considered to be the basis for spat ial navigation. Two experiments (N = 56) investigated the role of observer perspective on t he resulting mental representation when learning a spatial configuration on the computer. Learning in route perspective, which induced the impression of passive navigation through the configuration, was compared with a survey perspective, which consisted of an overview of the whole configuration fro m one point of view. In accordance with view-based theories, previously seen views could be iden tified faster and with less error than new views for both perspectives duri ng learning. Recoding the information into the alternative: perspective was also possible participants were asked to integrate distinct route views in to a survey view during learning, the flexibility of the resulting mental r epresentation was greatly increased. This indicates that conscious processe s such as imagery play an important role in the integration of spatial know ledge.