[The effects of spatial information for cognitive distance in an architectural space]

The present study investigated the effects of the spatial information for cognitive distance in an architectural space. One hundred undergraduate students participated in the experiment, and they were divided into two groups. The control group (CG) was given the pictures of both ends of the routes, and the experimental group (EG) was given some scenes of the routes in addition to the ends. The subjects have used the building used for the experiment for more than 2 years, and they estimated each walk of the 10 routes in the building. Each of those routes (50 m-144 m) is longer than the standard route (34 m). Before estimating the distance, the pictures were given on display through World Wide Web with questionnaires. The ratio method was used to obtain the cognitive distance data. As a result, the cognitive distance data of both groups showed similar distribution, and the cognitive distance data of EG were longer than those of CG in all routes. However, the effects of the number of the pictures were varied. These results suggested that not only the amount of the spatial information (i.e., chair, pillar, garbage box) but also the subjects' cognitive processing of the information affected the cognitive distance.