[Effect of the configuration of a route on distance perception]

Numerous studies have been carried out to investigate the knowledge of route distance in environmental space. Evidence suggests that the knowledge of distance is influenced by the environmental features and structures of the route. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that affect this knowledge. In particular, the aim was to determine the role of the structure versus that of characteristic environmental features along the route. In two experiments, it was found that the knowledge of distance was not affected by the structure alone. Rather it was determined by the environmental features along the route. Participants seem to infer the environmental distance between two locations indirectly using successively perceived and stored retrievable features. It could be shown in a third experiment that in an intentional learning condition--in contrast to an incidental condition--, the number of environmental features does not seem to influence distance knowledge. In this condition, a direct retrieval of information appears to be possible. The experiments took place in a virtual environment.