1,720,973 research outputs found
Visuospatial working memory and (free and cued) recall of survey knowledge after environment navigation
No full textNavigating environments is a fundamental ability of daily life, with survey knowledge playing a crucial role. Survey knowledge varies between individuals, and these variations may be related to individual differences in visuospatial working memory (VSWM) ability. However, other factors, such as the modalities of recall (cued vs. free recall) of survey knowledge, could interact with VSWM resources. The present study aimed to clarify whether various types of VSWM contribute to survey knowledge under specific recall modalities or regardless of how spatial information is retrieved. A sample of 74 young adults performed VSWM tasks with varying processing demands and degrees of active involvement. Then, they actively learned a virtual city path in a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) environment, and their survey knowledge was assessed using a sketch map task in free and cued recall modalities (within-participants). Cued recall demonstrated an advantage in sketch map accuracy over free recall. VSWM with simultaneous processing and active mental imagery is associated with sketch map accuracy, but not other VSWM. Importantly, no interaction was found between VSWM and the modality of recall. Therefore, survey knowledge is primarily related to VSWM, regardless of recall modality, emphasizing the importance of VSWM ability in capturing survey knowledge after active navigation
Development of a self-report measure of GPS uses and its relationship with environmental knowledge and self-efficacy and pleasure in exploring
Full text linkThe widely utilized Global Positioning System (GPS) plays a crucial role in everyday navigation. The literature has predominantly focused on GPS use for reaching destinations rather than exploring its various strategic applications and relations with individual factors. The current paper is intended to develop a GPS Uses Scale assessing a variety of GPS uses for wayfinding and other GPS uses (Study 1). We also examine whether GPS uses are related to gender, age, self-efficacy and pleasure in exploring, dependence on GPS devices, and environment knowledge (Study 2). In Study 1, 365 participants completed the new GPS Uses Scale and the McGill GPS questionnaire, for assessing validity. Results from the confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a structure as five-level factors, good reliability, and validity. In Study 2, 200 participants completed the GPS Uses Scale, self-efficacy and pleasure in exploring scale, GPS dependence scale, and a sketch map task after learning a virtual city from a video. Results from the linear model showed that those who use GPS for strategic purposes reported higher self-efficacy and pleasure in exploring as well as dependence on GPS. Moreover, those who use GPS for orientation purposes reported higher dependency on GPS and had higher scores on the map task (environment knowledge). Men were less likely to use GPS for orientation. The present paper outlines the importance of assessing the various uses of GPS, suggesting self-efficacy and dependence on GPS, and contributes to its strategic use
Differences in wayfinding inclinations among women and men: a matter of personality and affect, not just gender
Full text linkWomen report different levels of wayfinding inclinations than men. This study is an exploration of whether individual factors such as personality traits and affect can provide insights into the gender differences observed in wayfinding inclinations, such as in the attitudes toward exploring and spatial anxiety. The study involved 454 adults (271 women) who completed questionnaires on personality traits, affective state, attitudes toward exploring and spatial anxiety. Women reported lower positive attitudes toward exploring and higher spatial anxiety than men. Openness and positive affect were associated with positive attitudes toward exploring places in both genders whereas extraversion was associated with attitudes toward exploring places among men. Higher levels of extraversion were linked to lower spatial anxiety in both genders, higher levels of negative affect were associated with greater spatial anxiety among men, and lower levels of emotional stability were associated with greater spatial anxiety among women. Therefore, gender does not play a singular role in explaining differences in self-reported wayfinding inclinations. Instead, negative affect (at least for men) and low emotional stability (at least among women) tend to hinder such inclinations whereas openness and positive affect contribute to their promotion. These results provide insights into how the patterns of relationships among wayfinding inclinations, personality traits, and affect vary between men and women, with possible implications for assessment and intervention
Spatial learning in a virtual environment: The role of self-efficacy feedback and individual visuospatial factors
Full text linkWe examined the roles self-efficacy plays in environmental learning in terms of self-efficacy feedback and task-specific (navigation-based) self-efficacy. We manipulated self-efficacy using positive and neutral feedback to investigate the relationship between receiving positive feedback and environmental learning performance and subsequent recall. A total of 231 participants were administered visuospatial tasks, where 117 received positive feedback, and 114 received neutral feedback. Then, we tested environmental learning using route retracing, pointing, and map-completion tasks. Before each environmental task, participants evaluated their task-specific self-efficacy. A series of spatial self-reported preferences were gathered as well. Mediation models showed that receiving positive feedback after a visuospatial task influences environmental recall performance through the mediation of task-specific self-efficacy. Moreover, after accounting for experimental manipulation and gender, we found that task-specific self-efficacy, sense of direction, and visuospatial abilities influence spatial-recall task performance, even with some differences as a function of the specific recall tasks considered. Overall, our findings suggest that among individual characteristics, task-specific self-efficacy can sustain environmental learning. Furthermore, giving positive feedback can improve spatial self-efficacy before conducting spatial-recall tasks
Investigating the different domains of environmental knowledge acquired from virtual navigation and their relationship to cognitive factors and wayfinding inclinations
Full text linkWhen learning an environment from virtual navigation people gain knowledge about landmarks, their locations, and the paths that connect them. The present study newly aimed to investigate all these domains of knowledge and how cognitive factors such as visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations might support virtual passive navigation. A total of 270 participants (145 women) were tested online. They: (i) completed visuospatial tasks and answered questionnaires on their wayfinding inclinations; and (ii) learnt a virtual path. The environmental knowledge they gained was assessed on their free recall of landmarks, their egocentric and allocentric pointing accuracy (location knowledge), and their performance in route direction and landmark location tasks (path knowledge). Visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations emerged as two separate factors, and environmental knowledge as a single factor. The SEM model showed that both visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations support the environmental knowledge factor, with similar pattern of relationships in men and women. Overall, factors related to the individual are relevant to the environmental knowledge gained from an online virtual passive navigation
Men’s and women’s egocentric and allocentric knowledge: The involvement of mental rotation ability and spatial beliefs
Full text linkIndividual factors can play a relevant role in explaining gender differences in
environmental learning in terms of visuospatial abilities and beliefs about spatial
abilities, such as stereotypes and growth mindset about navigation ability. In this
study, we aim to investigate how mental rotation ability and spatial beliefs interact
in the acquisition of egocentric and allocentric spatial knowledge. A sample of 244
participants (140 women) completed individual difference measures, including a
mental rotation test (MRT) and questionnaires on gender stereotypes and growth
mindsets about navigation ability. Participants then learned a specific route in a
virtual environment and performed an egocentric pointing task and an allocentric
pointing task. Men performed better in mental rotation and egocentric pointing
tasks. Moreover, mental rotation ability predicted both egocentric and allocentric
pointing performance; growth mindset predicted allocentric pointing. In general,
these results suggest that, despite gender differences in some spatial measures,
cognitive abilities and beliefs contribute to supporting environmental knowledge
in both men and women
Environmental learning in a virtual environment: Do gender, spatial self-efficacy, and visuospatial abilities matter?
No full textThe study investigated the role of individual differences in environmental learning, including gender, visuospatial
cognitive abilities, and spatial self-efficacy. A sample of 173 participants learned a route in a virtual
environment and, afterwards, indicated the starting point (pointing task) and located landmarks on a sketch map
(map-completion task). An ad hoc single-item question measured the specific spatial self-efficacy referring to the
tasks, whereas we assessed global spatial self-efficacy and visuospatial cognitive abilities using a questionnaire
and two tasks, respectively. The results of the structural equation modelling (SEM) showed that general and taskspecific
self-efficacy and visuospatial cognitive abilities mediated the relationship between gender and mapcompletion.
These findings suggest that self-efficacy (general and task-specific) and visuospatial cognitive
abilities have a role in explaining the relationship between gender and environmental learning
Mental representations and emotions in urban environments: affective state, restorativeness and distance and time estimations
No full text
Learning from navigation, and tasks assessing its accuracy: The role of visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations
No full textHow individual differences in visuospatial thinking relate to environment learning from navigation is of growing interest and needs to be approached systematically. Here, a sample of 292 undergraduates learnt a virtual path (desktop-based), and their learning accuracy was assessed with recall tasks, i.e. route retracing, shortcut finding and landmark locating tasks. Several individual visuospatial measures, tasks and questionnaires, were administered. Relations between individual measures and recall tasks were estimated with regression models taking quantitative evidence available in the literature into account, and treated as Bayesian informed priors established by a meta-analysis. The results provide robust evidence of visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations (composing two distinct factors) both affecting recall task performance, particularly the former. A different contribution of individual measures as a function of recall task is envisaged. This study offers new insight on the role of individual visuospatial measures in environment learning (navigation-like) and how they are related
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