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Making Sense of Human Wayfinding: Review of Cognitive and Linguistic Knowledge for Personal Navigation with a New Research Direction

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Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASID,volume 63))

Abstract

This article provides a summary of the basic knowledge of human wayfinding found in the literature. It explores the historical roots of the theories (competence literature) and some of the more inductive empirical results (performance literature) of wayfinding. It will point out the limited scope of these investigations compared to the richness of actual human wayfinding, especially in describing the information needs for wayfinding. To address this lack of knowledge the use of the“sense-making” investigation method is suggested. The method is described and several empirical studies are proposed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, 13244, USA

    Myke Gluck

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  1. Myke Gluck
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, Department of Geography, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA

    David M. Mark

  2. National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, Department of Surveying Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA

    Andrew U. Frank

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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Gluck, M. (1991). Making Sense of Human Wayfinding: Review of Cognitive and Linguistic Knowledge for Personal Navigation with a New Research Direction. In: Mark, D.M., Frank, A.U. (eds) Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space. NATO ASI Series, vol 63. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2606-9_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2606-9_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5151-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-2606-9

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