###### Abstract  
Under emergencies such as floods and fires or during indoor navigation where cues from local landmarks and a Global Positioning System (GPS) are no longer available, the acquisition of comprehensive environmental representation becomes particularly important. Several studies demonstrated that individual differences in cognitive style might play an important role in creating a complete environmental representation and spatial navigation. However, this relationship between cognitive style and spatial navigation is not well researched. This study hypothesized that a specific type of map orientation (north-up vs. forward-up) might be more efficient for individuals with different cognitive styles. Forty participants were recruited to perform spatial tasks in a virtual maze environment to understand how cognitive style may relate to spatial navigation abilities, particularly the acquisition of survey and route knowledge. To measure survey knowledge, pointing direction tests and sketch map tests were employed, whereas, for route knowledge, the landmark sequencing test and route retracting test were employed. The results showed that both field-dependent and field-independent participants showed more accurate canonical organization in their sketch map task with a north-up map than with a forward-up map, with field-independent participants outperforming field-dependent participants in canonical organization scores. The map orientation did not influence the performance of Field-Independent participants on the pointing direct test, with field-dependent participants showing higher angular error with north-up maps. Regarding route knowledge, field-independent participants had more accurate responses in the landmark sequencing tests with a north-up map than with a forward-up map. On the other hand, field-dependent participants had higher accuracy in landmark sequencing tests in the forward-up map condition than in the north-up map condition. In the route retracing test, however, the map orientation had no statistically significant effect on different cognitive style groups. The results indicate that cognitive style may affect the relationship between map orientation and spatial knowledge acquisition. p 2024  
showed that evacuation time might be significantly reduced if trained individuals comprise at least 10% of the total building population [2]. Recently, [PERSON] et al. [3] utilized Virtual Reality (VR) to examine 72 subjects' evacuation retracing strategies and found that their retrace ability is significantly impacted by spatial designs (e.g., the width of hallways). Recent studies have shown that individuals navigating with mobile technology have poor spatial knowledge acquisition [4]. For instance, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [5] concluded that the use of a Global Positioning System (GPS) may adversely affect spatial memory during spatial navigation. Likewise, [PERSON] et al. [6] revealed that using Augmented Reality (AR) for navigation assistance can enhance driving performance but gravely impair route learning as compared to maps. Many researchers have demonstrated that this lapse of attention to surroundings is due to the use of mobile navigation devices and their continuous spatial updating that adversely impacts spatial learning [7; 8]. Another possible cause of spatial knowledge degradation could be a discrepancy between the information provided via a digital map and individual differences in inherent spatial schemata used for interpreting spatial relations. For example, recent investigations suggested that our cognitive survey maps are not always oriented with reference to the north [9; 10; 11]. Instead, they can be oriented with respect to convenient reference systems for organizing spatial knowledge, such as major streets. In a recent study by [PERSON] et al. [12], the role of north-up, forward-up, and guiding arrow map orientations in spatial navigation was examined.