Cognitive representations of multilevel buildings: two- or three-dimensional?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Architectural Psychology
• Spatial Cognition

Background:

• Conventional buildings are often mentally represented as horizontal planes.
• Atrium architecture, with visual access between levels, is perceived as a volume.
• Previous research explored visual access but not physical access in spatial representation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if easy physical access to different levels promotes a volumetric cognitive representation of multilevel architecture.
• To determine if spatial representation is gradual or sudden.
• To assess the impact of movement patterns on spatial representation.

Main Methods:

• Participants navigated a virtual 3D grid maze with access to multiple levels at each intersection.
• A learning phase involved transport through twelve unique object locations.
• A test phase required participants to recall object locations on a schematic maze drawing.

Main Results:

• Response accuracy was similar whether objects were arranged horizontally or volumetrically.
• This indicates that easy physical access facilitates volumetric representation.
• Spatial representation developed gradually, and movement without turns improved it.

Conclusions:

• Easy physical access to multilevel environments can lead to a volumetric cognitive representation.
• The development of this spatial representation is a gradual process.
• Minimizing turns during navigation aids internal spatial representation by reducing cognitive load.