Cognitive Aspects: How People Perceive, Memorize, Think and Talk About Landmarks - Landmarks: GIScience for Intelligent Services - page 51

In summary, we can identify three forms of spatial knowledge contributing to a
mental spatial representation (see also [ 14 ] ):

1. Knowledge gained from exploring an environment (embodied experience).
2. Knowledge gained from exploring secondary sources such as maps, photos, or
written or spoken words (embodied is only the experience with the medium,
while the experience of the environment is indirect via a reading process).
3. Knowledge gained from experience with other, similar environments.

3.2 The Role of Perception

The human senses mediate between the physical environment and the representation
of this environment in the mind. Wikipedia, for instance, states: 2 “A m e n ta l
representation is the mental imagery of things that are not currently seen or sensed
by the sense organs”. But a prior perception by sense organs has led to the mental
representation in the first instance, and accordingly, current perceptions interact
with the mental representation. Spatial mental representations, we would assume
by now, are based on the experience of distance and direction from locomotion, and
on experiences of objects or events that are location-specific.

3.2.1 Landmarks Grab Attention

Kahneman [ 94 ] , simplifying, distinguishes two ways of thinking, which he calls for
brevity System 1 and System 2. System 1 is the one below conscious thinking. It is
subconscious, emotional and automatic, and hence, fast compared to the other way
of thinking. As many human skills become internalized, below conscious thinking,
they fall into System 1. For example, locomotion (once the baby has learned
to walk), path integration and mental rotation belong to System 1. Even acquisition
of information triggered by external stimuli can happen subconsciously [ 121 ] , in
interaction with System 1. System 2 does conscious reasoning, and hence, is the
slow system. For example, dialog about directions involves System 2. People are
able to reflect how they argue while they argue about the route they choose in a
given situation.
O'Regan has developed theories how people can form an image of the exterior
environment of the body from perception (sensors) and feelings (responses to sensor
readings) [ 161 ] . The question whether we can trust our perceptions is of course an
old one. Already René Descartes, out of his methodological skepticism, formulated
the famous quote cogito ergo sum (originally je pense, donc je suis ,[ 41 ] ), putting

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representation_(psychology) , last visited 3/1/2014.