Moving Targets: Human References to Unstable Landmarks

In the present study, we investigate if speakers refer to moving entities in route directions (RDs) and how listeners evaluate these references. There is a general agreement that landmarks should be perceptually salient and stable objects. Animated movement attracts visual attention, making entities salient. We ask speakers to watch videos of crossroads and give RDs to listeners, who in turn have to choose a street on which to continue (Experiment 1) or choose the best instruction among three RDs (Experiment 2). Our results show that speakers mention moving entities, especially when their movement is informative for the navigation task (Experiment 1). Listeners understand and use moving landmarks (Experiment 1), yet appreciate stable landmarks more (Experiment 2).