Abstract

A rapidly expanding area of human geography is the study of spatial knowledge. This growth can be partly attributed to the recent emergence of user-friendly and affordable technology that allows more researchers (notably students) to design, build and use virtual environments in spatial knowledge research. The purpose of this thesis project is to explore recall differences in the reconstitution of spatial knowledge acquired by means of a tour through a virtual environment. The motivation behind this area of inquiry is the apparent assumption that the order of spatial knowledge tasks may have some effect on acquisition or recall, which is evidenced in some current research methodologies. The results show that there is no significant difference between two groups of participants with respect to the order of recall tasks; however, one group of participants performed better in almost every task, suggesting that the first recall task appears to be influencing the succeeding recall task. This study contributes to the ongoing debate regarding the recall of spatial knowledge and introduces issues of concern regarding methodological design