How Do Regional Categories Affect the Potential for Rotation Distortion in Geographical Direction Estimation?

In this article we report results from an investigation conducted to ascertain how the potential for perception-based rotation distortion in direction estimation is affected by regional categories. To do so we tested subjects' knowledge about the direction of geographical locations in the northern part of Israel and in hypothetical maps. The results clearly indicate that regional categories do affect rotation distortion when direction estimation involves cities belonging to different regional categories. Based on these findings, we conclude that categorical representation has priority over perception-based representation in estimation when conditions appropriate to each type of representation simultaneously appear in a geographical environment.