Comprehending compass directions

Two experiments investigated the processes by which compass directions are comprehended. In both experiments, the task was as follows. A compass direction (e.g., 210 deg) was visually presented. The subject drew a representation of the direction and then pressed a key. Reaction time from onset of the stimulus to the keypress was measured. The results suggested a model of direction comprehension involving two steps: first, computing the nearest cardinal direction to the target direction, and then "rotating " from the cardinal to the target direction. Rotation could be performed equally well clockwise or counterclockwise. Additionally, north-south. tended to be comprehended faster than east-west, confirming past results that have shown an advantage of up-down over left-right in discrimination tasks. Most creatures are perpetually faced with the task of figuring out where they are going and how they are going to get there. Consequently, the question of how these feats are accomplished is of some interest to psychologists. A seminal paper by Tolman (1948) introduced the concept of a "cognitive map, " and ther