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Comparing methods for introducing blind and visually impaired people to unfamiliar urban environments

Espinosa, Maria Angeles and Ungar, Simon and Ochaita, Esperanza and Blades, Mark and Spencer, Christopher (1998) Comparing methods for introducing blind and visually impaired people to unfamiliar urban environments. [Journal (Paginated)]

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Abstract

This paper reports two experiments which compared the effectiveness of different methods for introducing blind and visually impaired people to the spatial layout of urban environments. In Experiment 1, 30 blind and visually impaired adults learned a long and complex route through an area of central Madrid (Spain) either by direct experience or by a combination of direct experience and a tactile map or a combination of direct experience and a verbal description of the area. Performance on measures of practical spatial knowledge and of representational spatial knowledge was significantly better in participants in the tactile map condition. In Experiment 2, participants learned a similar route in an area of Sheffield (Britain) using either just a tactile map of by direct experience. No significant difference was found between the two conditions using the same measures as in Experiment 1.

Item Type:Journal (Paginated)
Keywords:environmetal cognition, blind, blindness, visual impairment, tactile map, spatial cognition, wayfinding
Subjects:Psychology > Applied Cognitive Psychology
Psychology > Cognitive Psychology
Psychology > Perceptual Cognitive Psychology
ID Code:1509
Deposited By: Ungar, Simon
Deposited On:23 Jul 2002
Last Modified:11 Mar 2011 08:54

References in Article

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