Fig. 1.

Sample maps from experiment 1 (Left) and experiment 2 (Right). Participants walked a 3 × 3 array (2.8-m square), following paths indicated on hand-held maps. The maps were held in a fixed position during testing, with north (indicated by N on the map) always farthest from the body. The letter N was also posted on the north wall of the room to indicate geographical north. In experiment 1, participants began by facing north, and path lengths ranged from one to nine turns. The move away from the start position (the highlighted circle) was not counted as a turn, so the sample map shown here consists of five turns. In experiment 2, participants began by facing a particular direction (north, south, east, or west) and then turned to make a single move to an adjacent location.