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Prismatic adaptation does not affect spatial map retrieval effect of possible implications for aero-space Flight Experts
No full textIn the present study the effect of a perceptual distortion provoked by prismatic lenses, which induces a 10° shift of the visual field, was investigated. The prism adaptation procedure has been largely used both in clinical practice to produce a recalibration of a disturbed representation of the space, and in experimental setting on healthy individuals to better understand its implications on mental space representation. Here, we assessed, in 49 college students without flight experience (26 participants exposed to prismatic lenses PL, and 23 participants not exposed NPL), the effect of a perceptual distortion in expressing directional judgements with different degrees of orientation on a previously learnt schematic environmental map. We also investigated the effects of visual mental imagery components (generation, inspection and mental rotation) on the ability to perform directional judgements. Our results showed that despite prismatic exposure produced a shift of the visual field, this shift did not affect the mental representation of the map, and the judgment of PL participants did not differ from NPL participants. Conversely, the ability to men- tally rotate an object was predictive of the directional judgements performance. Specifically, individuals with higher mental rotation skills were more able to perform counter-aligned directional judgements and were less prone to the mis-alignment effect (i.e., they were good also when they had to imagine positions on the map that were not aligned with the learning perspective).
Our findings may have implications for aerospace ex- pert pilots, such as improving training systems by focus- ing on different types of mental rotation abilities (e.g., vertical mental rotation, forward mental rotation, etc...), with the aim to contrast visual illusions
Prismatic adaptation does not affect spatial map retrieval effect of possible implications for aero-space Flight Experts
No full textIn the present study the effect of a perceptual distortion provoked by prismatic lenses, which induces a 10° shift of the visual field, was investigated. The prism adaptation procedure has been largely used both in clinical practice to produce a recalibration of a disturbed representation of the space, and in experimental setting on healthy individuals to better understand its implications on mental space representation. Here, we assessed, in 49 college students without flight experience (26 participants exposed to prismatic lenses PL, and 23 participants not exposed NPL), the effect of a perceptual distortion in expressing directional judgements with different degrees of orientation on a previously learnt schematic environmental map. We also investigated the effects of visual mental imagery components (generation, inspection and mental rotation) on the ability to perform directional judgements. Our results showed that despite prismatic exposure produced a shift of the visual field, this shift did not affect the mental representation of the map, and the judgment of PL participants did not differ from NPL participants. Conversely, the ability to men- tally rotate an object was predictive of the directional judgements performance. Specifically, individuals with higher mental rotation skills were more able to perform counter-aligned directional judgements and were less prone to the mis-alignment effect (i.e., they were good also when they had to imagine positions on the map that were not aligned with the learning perspective).
Our findings may have implications for aerospace ex- pert pilots, such as improving training systems by focus- ing on different types of mental rotation abilities (e.g., vertical mental rotation, forward mental rotation, etc...), with the aim to contrast visual illusions
How would you describe a familiar route or put in order the landmarks along it? It depends on your cognitive style!
No full textCognitive style refers to the preference in perceiving, organizing and remembering information. Different cognitive styles have been identified across the years. Amongst others, field-dependence/independence cognitive style is the extent to which the person perceives part of a field as discrete from the surrounding environment as a whole, rather than embedded in the field. Instead, visualizer/verbalizer cognitive style involves the preference in processing visual versus verbal information. Both cognitive styles can influence navigational behaviour. The present study aimed at clarifying the extent to which field-dependence/independence and visualizer/verbalizer cognitive styles affect route-based navigational tasks. Therefore, 44 healthy participants from L’Aquila City were assessed for their cognitive styles and were asked to perform two different navigational tasks: reorder paths using a series of photos depicting landmarks from L’Aquila (visually presented task, visual path task—VisPT); orally describe specific paths of L’Aquila (verbally presented task, verbal path task—VerPT). Results showed that the field-independence cognitive style predicted response times of VisPT, whereas the visualizer/verbalizer cognitive style predicted the instructions given when performing the VerPT, namely, the number of metrical distance indicators provided by participants. By investigating two different cognitive styles, the study clarifies that field-dependence/independence and visualizer/verbalizer cognitive styles can play a different role in spatial navigation and suggests that the material by which a navigational task is presented affects its performance
Does spatial locative comprehension predict landmark-based navigation?
Full text linkIn the present study we investigated the role of spatial locative comprehension in learning and retrieving pathways when landmarks were available and when they were absent in a sample of typically developing 6- to 11-year-old children. Our results show that the more proficient children are in understanding spatial locatives the more they are able to learn pathways, retrieve them after a delay and represent them on a map when landmarks are present in the environment. These findings suggest that spatial language is crucial when individuals rely on sequences of landmarks to drive their navigation towards a given goal but that it is not involved when navigational representations based on the geometrical shape of the environment or the coding of body movements are sufficient for memorizing and recalling short pathways
Mental imagery skills predict the ability in performing environmental directional judgements
No full textMental imagery plays a crucial role in several cognitive processes, including human navigation. According to the Kosslyn’s Model, mental imagery is subserved by three components: generation, inspection and transformation. The role of transformation, where by individuals recognise, from a different perspective, a place they have already visited, is no longer a matter of debate. However, the role of the other two components when recalling a map from different perspectives, has never been fully investigated. In the present study, we enrolled forty-nine college students and asked them to learn a schematic map and to provide directional judgements aligned or counter-aligned compared to the learnt map orientation. Their mental imagery generation, inspection and transformation skills were also investigated. Results demonstrated that all three visual mental imagery components negatively correlate with errors in providing directional judgements. Specifically, generation assumes a role in aligned directional judgements, while inspection and transformation predict the capability to provide counter-aligned directional judgements. Although all mental imagery components play a role in mentally recalling a map, only the proficiency in inspection and mental rotation can predict the accuracy in changing perspective
How does environmental knowledge allow us to come back home?
No full textHerein, we investigate how the three types of mental spatial representation (landmark, route and survey) are reorganized to perform wayfinding and homing behaviour. We also investigate the contribution of visuo-spatial working memory in reaching and in vista space in performing the retracing of the path. For this purpose, we asked 68 healthy college students to learn and come back along an unknown path in a real environment and to perform two different forward and backward working memory tasks, one in the reaching space (Corsi Block-Tapping Test) and the other in a vista space (Walking Corsi Test). The results show that participants performed better when travelling the route forward (which corresponds to the originally learned direction) than when travelling the route backward (return path) and that working memory in vista space is crucial for both wayfinding and homing behaviour, while the working memory for reaching space contributes only to homing behaviour. Although homing behaviour is an early mechanism in navigation shared among many species, it represents a very complex behaviour that requires both topographic and visuo-spatial memory as well as the first two levels of environmental knowledge
The Key of the Maze: the role of mental imagery and cognitive flexibility in navigational planning
No full textSpatial navigation planning ability relies on both mental imagery and cognitive flexibility. Considering
the importance of planning ability in everyday life, several neuropsychological tests are used in clinical
practice for its assessment, although some of these are not aimed at assessing the strategies of navigational
planning. The Porteus Maze Test (PMT) and the Key Search Task (KST) require to plan a strategy in a maze
and in an imagined space, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, although these two tests share
some features, the relationship between them has never been explored. The purpose of the present study
was to investigate, for the first time, the relationship between the PMT and the KST performances in 38
healthy subjects in order to understand the implications of this association for the assessment of spatial
navigation ability. Subjects were subdivided in bad or good navigation planners on the basis of the their
KST score. The results of the study have revealed a significant difference (t = 2.35; p = 0.03) in the number
of errors made at the PMT by bad navigational planners (0.78±0.28) and good navigational planners
(0.10±0.06). The first group (bad navigational planners) made more errors at the PMT than the good
navigational planners (who made less errors at the PMT). This provides evidence of the possibility to use
the KST and the PMT in a combined way as a new tool for the assessment of spatial navigational planning
ability. Furthermore, this finding highlights the importance of mental imagery and cognitive flexibility
in spatial navigation, suggesting that these functions could be the link between a good planning ability
and a successful spatial navigation. In conclusion, this study suggests that an efficient navigation would
not be possible without a good navigational planning ability
Travel Planning Ability in Right Brain-Damaged Patients: Two Case Reports
Full text linkPlanning ability is fundamental for goal-directed spatial navigation. Preliminary findings
from patients and healthy individuals suggest that travel planning (TP)—namely,
navigational planning—can be considered a distinct process from visuospatial planning
(VP) ability. To shed light on this distinction, two right brain-damaged patients without
hemineglect were compared with a control group on two tasks aimed at testing VP
(i.e., Tower of London-16, ToL-16) and TP (i.e., Minefield Task, MFT). The former requires
planning the moves to reach the right configuration of three colored beads on three
pegs, whereas the latter was opportunely developed to assess TP in the navigational
environment when obstacles are present. Specifically, the MFT requires participants to
plan a route on a large carpet avoiding some hidden obstacles previously observed.
Patient 1 showed lesions encompassing the temporoparietal region and the insula; she
performed poorer than the control group on the ToL-16 but showed no deficit on the
MFT. Conversely, Patient 2 showed lesions mainly located in the occipitoparietal network
of spatial navigation; she performed worse than the control group on the MFT but not on
the ToL-16. In both cases performances satisfied the criteria for a classical dissociation,
meeting criteria for a double dissociation. These results support the idea that TP is a
distinct ability and that it is dissociated from VP skills
Giant chess game enhances spatial navigational skills in 6-years-old children: preliminary findings
No full textThe game of chess is a valuable extracurricular activity for children, with positive effects on their cognitive skills and academic achievements. We investigated the extent to which the Giant Chess Game (GCG) played on a giant chessboard enhances working memory in "navigational-vista" space and "reaching" space. We also assessed if the GCG enhances mental rotation skills. For 10 weeks, 15 children (GCG group) were involved in a giant chess class, while 15 gender and age-matched children were involved in standard didactics (control group-CG). Children were tested twice, before (T0) and after (T1) the GCG, by tasks aimed at measuring: visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM) in the navigational-vista space (Walking Corsi test); VSWM in the reaching space (Corsi Block-Tapping task); mental rotation (Rotating Flowers test). We found that the GCG group significantly improved its performance more than the CG in VSWM in both navigational-vista space and reaching space, as well as in mental rotation. Our results suggest that the GCG has positive effects on visuo-spatial abilities underlying topographical skills. Therefore, the training using GCG can help enhancing spatial ability and may have a role in contrasting the spreading of navigational deficits such as the Developmental Topographical Disorientation (DTD)
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