Two experiments were designed to determine which of two encoding tactics learners use to
remember maps and whether one or the other differentially preserves locational memory for
mapped features. Experiment 1 subjects were presented a map with either low or high
spatial distinction, with half of the subjects receiving general instruction to cluster the map's
features. Results showed that the subjects have an apparent propensity to encode mapped
features using a semantically based encoding tactic; yet the visuospatial properties of a map …