Impact of Navon-Induced Global and Local Processing Biases on the Acquisition of Spatial Knowledge

We examined the effect of local or global processing bias (in the Navon task) on the acquisition of spatial knowledge from maps and route videos. Before spatial learning, participants completed a 5-min Navon task (biased toward global or local stimuli). After participants studied a map or route video, route knowledge was measured using a route distance estimation task, and survey knowledge was measured using a straight-line distance estimation task and map-sketching task. We found that participants in the global group performed better in the straight-line distance estimation task, and their sketch maps were more accurate in both overall configuration and interlandmark relationships compared with those of participants in the local group, regardless of learning materials. We conclude that Navon-induced biases influenced both the encoding and the visuospatial transformation of spatial knowledge.