Picturesque studies Sequentional analysis - Technische Universiteit ...

highway experienceLevel 2: cognitionSuccesion of landmarksOrientationMeaning56Second level of the highway experience: cognitionThe succession of landmarksMovement along a road exists of a succession of prominent and less prominentlandmarks. These are goals the driver moves towards and passes until the destinationis reaches, which could also be marked by a landmark.Landmarks can be distant points or points that slowly change as one moves towardsthem, or points close to the road that divide the road into visual segments. If a longdistance goal is not always visible it should reappear regularly in the field of vision tosustain the feeling of progression.OrientationBesides the defectiveness and the feeling of progression evolved by landmarks, driversand passengers use the general surroundings for orientation. This is partly a practical,partly an esthetic activity. An environment that is easy to navigate provides moreemotional reassurance and arouses less stress. (Comment: this is even true in theage of navigation systems. On a smaller scale it had been shown that people relymore on the visual information a given traffic situation provides than on artificialsigns.)MeaningDrivers try to discover meaning in the things they see, they try to relate visual objects tothe collection of ideas and examples in their brains. Seeing an activity or somethingthat has meaning is an important source of pleasure when driving along a road. Theresearchers add that it is less and less possible to see other people when driving onhighways (it is 1964).56