How Do Subway Signs Affect Pedestrians’ Wayfinding Behavior through Visual Short-Term Memory?

Haoru Li, Jinliang Xu, Xiaodong Zhang and Fangchen Ma
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Haoru Li: School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Jinliang Xu: School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Xiaodong Zhang: School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Fangchen Ma: School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: Recently, subways have become an important part of public transportation and have developed rapidly in China. In the subway station setting, pedestrians mainly rely on visual short-term memory to obtain information on how to travel. This research aimed to explore the short-term memory capacities and the difference in short-term memory for different information for Chinese passengers regarding subway signs. Previous research has shown that people’s general short-term memory capacity is approximately four objects and that, the more complex the information, the lower people’s memory capacity. However, research on the short-term memory characteristics of pedestrians for subway signs is scarce. Hence, based on the STM theory and using 32 subway signs as stimuli, we recruited 120 subjects to conduct a cognitive test. The results showed that passengers had a different memory accuracy for different types of information in the signs. They were more accurate regarding line number and arrow, followed by location/text information, logos, and orientation. Meanwhile, information type, quantity, and complexity had significant effects on pedestrians’ short-term memory capacity. Finally, according to our results that outline the characteristics of short-term memory for subway signs, we put forward some suggestions for subway signs. The findings will be effective in helping designers and managers improve the quality of subway station services as well as promoting the development of pedestrian traffic in such a setting.

Keywords: subway; guiding sign; STM capacity; pedestrian cognitive; traffic efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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