Using a single map display both for navigational planning and for turn-by-turn vehicle guidance: configural spatial...

Navigational driving systems have used traditional track-up map displays for guiding immediate turn-by-turn decisions and traditional north-up map displays for facilitating navigational planning and learning about environmental layout (configural spatial knowledge), because no single map display has been usable for both purposes. Rizzardo and Colle (2013) showed that north-up map displays could successfully guide turn decisions when a new spatial plus verbal advisory turn indicator was used, raising the possibility of designing single map displays that also are usable for spatial learning. Multimedia instructional design models, modified for spatial learning from navigation and driving, identified the sources of extraneous cognitive load that limit spatial learning from moving maps. Predictions include that participants can learn more from north-up map displays with the new advisory indicator than the traditional indicator. Experiment 1 showed that after college students (N = 96) drove through a virtual city guided by 1 of 3 map types or voice commands, most configural spatial knowledge was acquired using the new north-up display, then the traditional north-up map display, and the least with the traditional track-up map display. In Experiment 2, college students (N = 192) watched the same map sequences from either the new north-up or the track-up map display, but with a limited duration of their glances to the map display (no driving). Viewing spatial plus verbal north-up map displays produced significant spatial learning even with short glance durations, but not when viewing track-up displays even with long glance durations. Theoretical and design implications are discussed.