How do people remember spatial information from tactile maps?

Abstract

This study investigates the strategies people use spontaneously to remember spatial information from touch and movement to understand why tactile maps are often found difficult. We compared task-filled with unfilled delays in location and distance tasks. Locations showed highly significant effects of the longer, more complex positioning movements used here in location recall, but no interference from the interpolated tasks, except marginally from counting backwards. By contrast, recall by the same participants of a repeated small distance showed highly significant interference from interpolated spatial rotation and movements. Speech suppression had no effects. The findings suggest that spontaneous spatial heuristics vary with the ease and consistency of positioning movements in recall, and cannot be inferred from type (location or distance) of spatial task. The discussion considers the practical implications of the findings.