Abstract
Spatial navigation is an essential human skill that is influenced by several factors. The present study investigates how gender, age, and cultural background account for differences in reference frame proclivity and performance in a virtual navigation task. Using an online navigation study, we recorded reaction times, error rates (confusion of turning axis), and reference frame proclivity (egocentric vs. allocentric reference frame) of 1823 participants. Reaction times significantly varied with gender and age, but were only marginally influenced by the cultural background of participants. Error rates were in line with these results and exhibited a significant influence of gender and culture, but not age. Participants’ cultural background significantly influenced reference frame selection; the majority of North-Americans preferred an allocentric strategy, while Latin-Americans preferred an egocentric navigation strategy. European and Asian groups were in between these two extremes. Neither the factor of age nor the factor of gender had a direct impact on participants’ navigation strategies. The strong effects of cultural background on navigation strategies without the influence of gender or age underlines the importance of socialized spatial cognitive processes and argues for socio-economic analysis in studies investigating human navigation.
Highlights
Level, but that several additional factors influence the development of individual reference frame proclivities
Several milestones like crawling, upright walking, and the ability to perform head movements are crucially important for the maturation of neural structures[27], which are in turn important for the development of spatial strategies
We investigated how well the factors gender, age, and cultural background can account for individual differences in navigation performance and spatial reference frame proclivity
Summary
Level, but that several additional factors influence the development of individual reference frame proclivities. Wolbers & Hegarty[13] summarized existing literature regarding individual differences in spatial cognition and concluded that human spatial navigation is influenced by a multitude of factors, including gender and age, and the individual preference to use different environmental cues In this light, the current study further investigates the underlying mechanisms shaping individual preferences of reference frame use and navigation performance. We investigated how well the factors gender, age, and cultural background can account for individual differences in navigation performance and spatial reference frame proclivity. We tested these different factors as predictors. This study aimed to reveal the effects and interdependencies of the most important factors regarding spatial cognition within the general population
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