ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on a specific form of collective learning in the context of everyday spatial environments, namely collaborative navigation, in which people move toward a destination in a group, interacting with each other. The chapter first points out that most studies of spatial cognition have considered navigation at the individual level and, therefore, have not specifically addressed the dynamic and interactive aspects of collaborative navigation. After overviewing major findings in the literature of collective learning and group decision-making, I look at a few existing studies that examined collaborative navigation in an empirical setting, particularly a study that I conducted previously in an unfamiliar environment with participants conducting a paired-navigation task. The chapter concludes by discussing questions for future research, especially the effects of psychological, physical, and social variables on collective spatial cognition and the significant implications of large individual differences for the development of user-friendly and context-aware navigation assistance.
