Inertial cues, landmarks, and geometrical cues in spatial memory and navigation

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The general objective of my research program has been to increase our understanding of how people represent spatial information in memory and how people use spatial memory for navigation. I propose four lines of research to investigate (1) whether a boundary (e.g. a wall) is superior to a single landmark (e.g. a tree) in encoding spatial relations between locations, (2) how people use landmarks and geometrical information to reorient in a city, (3) whether the inertial cues (body movement signals) and the visual cues during locomotion contribute to spatial representations of a route, and (4) whether and when visual information can reset the path integration system. ***It is theorized that a boundary rather than a landmark is important to encode locations forming cognitive maps. In the proposed research, I will investigate whether people represent interobject spatial relations better when they learn each object with the presence of a boundary than when they learn each object with the presence of a landmark. ***Many studies have examined how people use landmarks and geometrical information to reorient in a room. My previous work showed that reorientation relative to a room might be different from reorientation relative to a large scale environment. In the proposed research, I will investigate whether a landmark and a street configuration will compete and integrate in encoding locations of objects. ***It has been hypothesized that both inertial cues (body movement signals) and visual cues contribute to a multi-modal spatial representations. I will test an alternative hypothesis that the inertial cues might not directly contribute to spatial representations because inertial cues are calibrated by the visual cues but not vice versa. In the proposed research, I will investigate whether the recalibration between visual cues and inertial cues will affect spatial representations that are learned with the presence of visual cues or inertial cues only. ***In the literature, there is no human study systematically investigating whether and when visual information can reset the path integration system. In the proposed research, participants need to walk another leg after they see displaced landmarks. If their estimated position is determined by the displaced landmark, it would support that the visual information can reset the path integration system. ***The proposed research should significantly advance our understanding of how people use different types of available information including inertial cues due to body movement, visual landmarks, and environment geometries (boundaries) to organize their spatial memory and to navigate in spaces. Contemporary theories of human spatial memory and navigation will be tested, contrasted, and modified. The proposed research also has applications in designs of human navigation systems, educations, and urban planning.