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Topic · Automotive Engineering

Spatial Cognition and Navigation

Spatial Cognition and Navigation is a research topic within Automotive Engineering. Science Explorer counts 17k research works in it since 1950. 20.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the importance of spatial ability in STEM domains, focusing on topics such as mental rotation, wayfinding, gender differences in spatial cognition, cognitive maps, and the use of landmarks in navigation. It also delves into the impact of spatial training on mathematics performance and the neural correlates of spatial tasks.

  • Spatial Ability
  • STEM Education
  • Mental Rotation
  • Wayfinding
  • Gender Differences
  • Cognitive Maps
  • Navigation
  • Landmarks
  • Virtual Environment
  • Neuroimaging Studies
Research works
17k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
20.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+18%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Spatial Cognition and Navigation research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (577 and 268 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 577 works
  2. 2 China 268 works
  3. 3 Germany 198 works
  4. 4 Japan 132 works
  5. 5 Indonesia 126 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 124 works
  7. 7 Italy 104 works
  8. 8 Türkiye 98 works
  9. 9 France 91 works
  10. 10 Canada 91 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 31.9%China: 14.8%Germany: 11.0%Japan: 7.3%6 others listed: 35.1%32%largest
United States577 · 31.9%China268 · 14.8%Germany198 · 11.0%Japan132 · 7.3%6 others listed636 · 35.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Spatial Cognition and Navigation research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Beijing Normal University publishes the most Spatial Cognition and Navigation research, followed by Texas A&M University and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing Normal UniversityChina 12 works
  2. 2 Texas A&M UniversityUnited States 10 works
  3. 3 Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańPoland 9 works
  4. 4 Indonesia University of EducationIndonesia 9 works
  5. 5 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 9 works
  6. 6 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 8 works
  7. 7 Justus-Liebig-Universität GießenGermany 8 works
  8. 8 University of AlbertaCanada 8 works
  9. 9 Pennsylvania State UniversityUnited States 8 works
  10. 10 Emory UniversityUnited States 8 works

Who are the leading researchers in Spatial Cognition and Navigation?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Spatial Cognition and Navigation include Richard E. Mayer.

  1. 1 Richard E. Mayer United States 4.7k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Spatial Cognition and Navigation research done?

The largest centres of Spatial Cognition and Navigation research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), London (United Kingdom) and Istanbul (Türkiye).

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 54 works
  2. 2 Tokyo Japan 40 works
  3. 3 London United Kingdom 29 works
  4. 4 Istanbul Türkiye 27 works
  5. 5 Paris France 25 works
  6. 6 Seoul South Korea 22 works
  7. 7 Shanghai China 22 works
  8. 8 Taipei Taiwan 20 works
  9. 9 New York United States 19 works
  10. 10 Zurich Switzerland 18 works
See Spatial Cognition and Navigation on the map

Where is the best place to study Spatial Cognition and Navigation?

Among universities, judged by research, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Beijing Normal University and Texas A&M University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 11.5286%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań: 9, 17.5%Beijing Normal University: 12, 9.2%Texas A&M University: 10, 15.4%University College London: 9, 17.3%Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen: 8, 4.0%University of Alberta: 8, 11.8%Indonesia University of Education: 9, 5.5%Adam Mickiewicz Univ…University College L…Texas A&M UniversityBeijing Normal Unive…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańPoland 64.417.5%8.1×9 —
2 Beijing Normal UniversityChina 63.39.2%6.1×12 +71.0%
3 Texas A&M UniversityUnited States 54.915.4%4.7×10 +22.0%
4 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 45.817.3%2.3×9 -3.4%
5 Justus-Liebig-Universität GießenGermany 38.34.0%13.9×8 +19.5%
6 University of AlbertaCanada 29.411.8%3.4×8 -11.5%
7 Indonesia University of EducationIndonesia 19.95.5%3.2×9 —

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Spatial Cognition and Navigation research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 18% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Spatial Cognition and Navigation.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.