Perspective switch and spatial knowledge acquisition: effects of age, mental rotation ability and visuospatial memory capacity on route learning in virtual environments with different levels of realism

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe report on a study in which we examine if the visual design of virtual environments (VEs) affects visuospatial knowledge acquisition in younger and older adults with varying cognitive abilities in the context of navigational learning, specifically when a perspective switch is involved. Perspective switch between first-person and aerial-views is an important and commonly executed task in navigation; and it is a special case in studying the effects of aging on navigational performance as well, because, reportedly, it is particularly harder for older people. In a controlled experiment, our participants learned a route in first-person view VE, and reproduced what they learned in an aerial-perspective view in immediate and delayed recall stages. To examine the effects of (and interactions between) multiple factors involved in the experiment in relation to the given task, we provide an in-depth investigation of group differences in spatial knowledge acquisition when a perspective switch is required based on age, mental rotation abilities, and visuospatial memory capacity with three VE designs that differ in levels of realism. Our findings based on the recall accuracy of 81 (42 younger, 39 older) participants in sketching tasks demonstrate significant differences across VE types, overall, in favor of our custom-designed VE in this demanding task. Furthermore, we demonstrate that age and visuospatial memory abilities are strong moderating factors, explicitly in this sketching task that requires a perspective switch, irrespective of VE types.