Spatial cognition in the mind and in the world - the case of hypermedia navigation

We present the results of a study of spatial cognition and its relationship to hypermedia navigation. The results show that a distinction can be made between two kinds of spatial cognition. One that concerns the concomitant acting in the physical world, and on that is a pure internal mental activity. This conclusion is supported by two kinds of data. First, a factor analysis of the subtests used in this study groups them into these two categories, and second, it is shown that only the internal one of these factors is related to the subjects performance in using a hypertext-based on-line help system. In the final section we point to the theoretical connections between this work and work in areas of situated cognition and on different kinds of mental representations, and discuss various possibilities that the results from this study suggest for the development of interface tools that will help users with low spatial abilities to use hypermedia systems.