Cognitive Distance of Stairways

This study examined the effect of stairways on different modes of distance estimation. Forty-two undergraduate students at Nihon University took part in the study. Two target sites, a stairway and a flat path, were selected in a university building. The students were asked to complete three tasks: a distance estimation, a traversed time estimation, and a mental walking time estimation. Afterward, the actual walking times were obtained. The results show that (a) estimated distances and times for the stairway tended to be overestimated while those for the flat path were close to actual distances and times, (b) mental walking times for the stairway approximated actual times whereas those for the flat path tended to be underestimated, and (c) individuals did not differ in their tendency to estimate high or low across the path conditions.