From Objects to Landmarks: The Function of Visual Location Information in Spatial Navigation

What the study found

Landmarks support navigation through both identity and positional information, with effectiveness depending on route and decision context.

Limitations

Mixed evidence base; landmark salience and familiarity are context-dependent.

Neurodesign interpretation

A landmark is useful not because it is memorable in isolation but because it arrives at the right moment in the navigation sequence.

Possible design implications

Place distinct landmarks at decision points and make them visible from the approaches where a decision is required.

Why it stays in the corpus

Retain as a landmark-design mechanism source.

Study design

Review

Population

Humans and comparative literature

Setting

Navigable environments

Field

Spatial cognition

Mechanism

Landmark use, visual navigation

Spatial variable

Landmark identity and location

Keywords

landmarks, wayfinding, visual navigation, spatial memory