Abstract
Wayfinding (WF) is the ability to move around efficiently and find the way from a starting point to a destination. It is a component of spatial navigation, a coordinate and goal-directed movement of one’s self through the environment. In the present study, the relationship between WF tasks (route tracing and shortcut finding) and individual factors were explored with the hypothesis that WF tasks would be predicted by different types of cognitive, affective, motivational variables, and personality factors. A group of 116 university students (88 F.) were conducted along a route in a virtual environment and then asked first to trace the same route again, and then to find a shortcut between the start and end points. Several instruments assessing visuospatial working memory, mental rotation ability, self-efficacy, spatial anxiety, positive attitude to exploring, and personality traits were administered. The results showed that a latent spatial ability factor (measured with the visuospatial working memory and mental rotations tests) – controlled for gender – predicted route-tracing performance, while self-report measures of anxiety, efficacy, and pleasure in exploring, and some personality traits were more likely to predict shortcut-finding performance. We concluded that both personality and cognitive abilities affect WF performance, but differently, depending on the requirements of the task.
Highlights
These studies proved that visuospatial working memory (VSWM) is implicated in the performance of spatial navigation tasks. These results converge with those of other studies using structural equation modeling that found a role for VSWM in the performance of spatial navigation tasks (Allen et al, 1996; Meneghetti et al, 2016)
The correlation analyses showed that route tracing and shortcut finding related differently to the other variables: route-tracing performance correlated with the mental rotation tasks (MRT) and two VSWM tasks, which revealed no significant correlations with the shortcut-finding task; the latter task correlated instead with spatial anxiety and pleasure in exploring and selfefficacy
The results of the present study confirm that the type of environment, the type of task, and internal factors interact in contributing to WF performance (Pazzaglia and Meneghetti, 2017), but the whole picture is much more complex
Summary
Wayfinding: Multiple Abilities and ProcessesWayfinding (WF) is generally defined as the ability to move around efficiently and find the way from a starting point to a destination (Montello, 2005).It is widely acknowledged that WF is a multicomponent ability (Hegarty et al, 2006; Wolbers and Hegarty, 2010) susceptible to broad individual differences (Hegarty and Waller, 2005), ranging from individuals who suffer from severe orientation deficits from childhood onward (Iaria et al, 2009; Iaria and Burles, 2016; Piccardi et al, 2017) to people with excellent orientation skills (Verde et al, 2015). The direct involvement of different working memory (WM) components has been demonstrated by using dual task paradigms in experiments in which participants were asked to perform WF tasks while concurrently performing secondary tasks assumed to load different WM components (Garden et al, 2002; Labate et al, 2014; Meilinger et al, 2008). On the whole, these studies proved that visuospatial working memory (VSWM) is implicated in the performance of spatial navigation tasks. Correlational and structural equation modeling studies likewise found relationships between scores obtained in tests on spatial abilities [mainly involving mental rotation tasks (MRT)] and in WF tasks (Hegarty et al, 2006; Muffato et al, 2017)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
