To examine how individuals with visual impairments understand space and the way they develop cognitive maps, we studied the differences in cognitive maps resulting from different methods and tools for spatial coding in large geographical spaces. We examined the ability of 21 blind individuals to create cognitive maps of routes in unfamiliar areas…

Introduction: The study presented here examines which haptic cues individuals with visual impairments use more frequently and determines which of these cues are deemed by these individuals to be the most important for way-finding in urban environments. It also investigates the ways in which these haptic cues are used by individuals with visual…

The aim of this study was to detect the possible relationships between various spatial skills of individuals with blindness. Twenty-eight individuals with blindness participated in five experiments that examined the body knowledge, laterality, directionality, perspective-taking, spatial coding of the near space and spatial knowledge of the far…

In the present study, the aim was to examine the differences in performance between children and adolescents with visual impairment and sighted peers in the water-level task. Twenty-eight individuals with visual impairments, 14 individuals with blindness and 14 individuals with low vision, and 28 sighted individuals participated in the present…

The study presented here sought to explore the role of auditory cues in the spatial knowledge of blind individuals by examining the relation between the perceived auditory cues and the landscape of a given area and by investigating how blind individuals use auditory cues to create cognitive maps. The findings reveal that several auditory cues…

Loss of vision is believed to have a great impact on the acquisition of spatial knowledge. The aims of the present study are to examine the performance of individuals with visual impairments on spatial tasks and the impact of residual vision on processing these tasks. In all, 28 individuals with visual impairments--blindness or low…

The aim of this study is to examine the performance in coding and representing of near-space in relation to vision status (blindness vs. normal vision) and sensory modality (touch vs. vision). Forty-eight children and teenagers participated. Sixteen of the participants were totally blind or had only light perception, 16 were blindfolded sighted…

The term "mental rotation" refers to a mental process during which individuals "encode the spatial information into an image, rotate the image mentally, and then access the image in its new orientation." Spatial perspective taking is based on a mental rotation process of the self. In spatial perspective taking, individuals seem…

This study examined which olfactory cues individuals with visual impairments use most often and determined which of these cues these individuals deemed to be the most important for wayfinding in urban environments. It also investigated the ways in which the individuals use these olfactory cues. (Contains 3 tables.)

The study presented here examined which auditory cues individuals with visual impairments use more frequently and consider to be the most important for wayfinding in urban environments. It also investigated the ways in which these individuals use the most significant auditory cues. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)

In this study, the authors explored the forms of social support, both positive and negative, that individuals with visual impairments receive in the workplace. This study was a follow-up to the authors' previous study (Papakonstantinou & Papadopoulos, 2009) that investigated the various forms of positive and negative social support received by…

The research presented in this article investigated the social support provided in the workplace for persons with visual impairments. The results reveal the more frequently demonstrated forms of positive and negative social support, the range of social support, and the level of satisfaction with this support.