Map Usage on Smartphones and Acquisition of Spatial Knowledge

Abstract. The study of spatial cognition has been one of important research domain for geographic information science. Recently our circumstance to acquire geographic information have been changed (e. g. Wakabayashi, Itoh, & Nagami, 2011), so It is important to clarify the influence of the environmental change in the acquisition of spatial knowledge.

In this study we revealed relationships between the tendency to use geospatial information on smartphones and the acquisition of spatial knowledge. Currently, most people own smartphones and obtain transit information from them, such as train transit planners and Google maps, when they visit a place for the first time. The usage of geospatial information on smartphones significantly affects the accuracy of cognitive maps. Maps, including train route maps, present locational information widely, in a two-dimensional space; thus, users can understand the relationships among locations over a wide area. In contrast, the small displays of smartphones permit the concurrent viewing of only small areas of geospatial information. Locational information, such as the results of transportation planner applications, are typically described in a one-dimensional space, from start point to goal point.

Little is known regarding the effect of accessing geospatial information through smartphones on cognitive maps. The purpose of this study was to determine how people obtain locational information and how the experience of accessing locational information through smartphones affects the acquisition spatial knowledge regarding locations of places. To understand this spatial knowledge acquisition, we conducted two experiments.