Investigating the influence of external and individual factors on perceived route difficulty

Montello’s research on navigation sheds light on the spatial cognition it involves. Earlier research examines how different factors influence route difficulty, analyzing how efficiently navigators navigate a route and how they experience it. However, navigation also encompasses wayfinding activities before locomotion, e.g., when looking at a route suggestion displayed on a map. We explore route difficulty from this perspective by showing route suggestions to participants and asking them to rate how difficult they appear to be, examining the impact of factors associated with the difficulty of navigating a route. Results indicate that the number of turns influences the perceived difficulty of a route, while other factors seem not to.