Cite as:
Meilinger T, Franz G, Bülthoff H H, 2009, "From isovists via mental representations to behaviour: first steps toward closing the causal chain" Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design advance online publication, doi:10.1068/b34048t

From isovists via mental representations to behaviour: first steps toward closing the causal chain

Tobias Meilinger, Gerald Franz, Heinrich H Bülthoff

Received 9 May 2007; in revised form 11 February 2008; published online 26 January 2009

Abstract. This paper addresses the interactions between human wayfinding performance, the mental representation of routes, and the geometrical layout of path intersections. The conclusions of this paper are based on the results of a virtual reality empirical experiment. The study consisted of a route-learning and reproduction task and two choice reaction tasks measuring the acquired knowledge of route decision points. In order to relate the recorded behaviour to the geometry of the environment, a specific adaptation of an isovist-based spatial analysis that accounts for directional bias in human spatial perception and representation was developed. The analyses applied provided conclusive evidence of correspondences between the geometrical properties of environments as captured by isovists and their mental representations.

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