The Mental Rotation of Map Displays

Abstract

This article describes two experiments that investigate the cognitive processes used during map reading. The experiments examine the hypothesis that local- ization using a map is the product of a cognitive alignment between two reference frames-an ego-centered reference frame that corresponds to the forward perceptual view of the world and a world-centered reference frame that corresponds to a location in a map. Mental rotation is seen as a central cognitive operation in this alignment. The data also suggest the existence of two sequential mental rotations of the map-one to bring the map into a track-up alignment and one to bring it forward so the image of the map is congruent with the forward view. These two experiments provide evidence that mental rotation is more than a laboratory phenomenon and may be generalized to navigation tasks. Data are also presented, however, that indicate mental rotation is a rather fragile process and is not used when the compari- sons between the map and the forward view become difficult.