Which navigational strategy relies on remembering landmarks and routes?

Which navigational strategy relies on remembering landmarks and routes?

• A. Echo-location
• B. Celestial navigation
• C. Spatial memory
• D. Magnetic cues

Answer: (C)

Relying on remembering landmarks and routes is spatial memory, a mental map built from experience in an environment. It lets you navigate by recognizing familiar buildings, street layouts, and the sequence of turns, using that remembered layout to choose where to go next. This approach shines in places you know well and can adapt as you update the map with new landmarks you encounter along the way. Echo-location uses sound echoes to sense the surroundings, celestial navigation relies on the positions of stars or the sun to determine direction, and magnetic cues depend on the Earth's magnetic field for orientation—none of these depend on recalling familiar landmarks or routes. So this strategy is spatial memory.

Relying on remembering landmarks and routes is spatial memory, a mental map built from experience in an environment. It lets you navigate by recognizing familiar buildings, street layouts, and the sequence of turns, using that remembered layout to choose where to go next. This approach shines in places you know well and can adapt as you update the map with new landmarks you encounter along the way. Echo-location uses sound echoes to sense the surroundings, celestial navigation relies on the positions of stars or the sun to determine direction, and magnetic cues depend on the Earth's magnetic field for orientation—none of these depend on recalling familiar landmarks or routes. So this strategy is spatial memory.