Gary L. Allen

Predicting environmental learning from spatial abilities: An indirect route

Abstract Relationships among spatial abilities, as assessed by a battery of psychometric tests and experimental tasks, and environmental learning, as assessed by a series of macrospatial tasks, were examined in two studies using confirmatory factor analysis with directional paths. The initial study indicated the utility of a five-factor model, one (general spatial ability) derived from psychometric tests, two (spatial-sequential memory and spatial perspective-taking latency) from experimental tasks, and two (topological knowledge and Euclidean direction knowledge) from measures of environmental learning. The best fitting path model further indicated that the spatial-sequential memory factor mediated the relationship between general spatial ability and topological knowledge, and that perspective-taking latency mediated the relationship between general spatial ability and Euclidean direction knowledge. The second study confirmed the five-factor path model using a different participant sample and environmental setting. The only failure to replicate involved the path between perspective-taking latency in the lab and Euclidean direction knowledge in the environment. Results indicate that the relationship between basic spatial abilities and environmental learning is significantly mediated by cognitive processes that can be assessed using laboratory tasks.

Principles and practices for communicating route knowledge

A series of experiments was conducted to examine the effect of several principle-based practices hypothesized as being important in communicating route knowledge. Results indicated that remembering and following route directions were facilitated by the practice of (a) presenting the directions in correct temporal–spatial order, consistent with the principle of natural order, (b) concentrating information in statements concerned with choice points, consistent with the principle of referential determinacy, and, to some extent, (c) using spatial designations with which most listeners are facile, consistent with the principle of mutual knowledge. In all studies, women had more difficulty than men in following the route from verbal directions. Possible avenues for explaining this sex-related difference are suggested. Copyright

Developmental issues in cognitive mapping: the selection and utilization of environmental landmarks.

2 studies were conducted to investigate developmental differences in the ability to select and use environmental landmarks for cognitively organizing distance information from a walk. In experiment 1, second-grade, fifth-grade, and college subjects viewed a simulated walk and selected scenes that were high in potential landmark value. In experiment 2, children from the same grade levels first viewed the walk and then ranked distances among either the test scenes most frequently selected by their peers or those selected most frequently by adults. Results indicated that (a) adults and children may not spontaneously select the same features as real-world landmarks; (b) children are less capable than adults in judging the value of potential landmarks as distance cues; and (c) the ability to use environmental landmarks as cues for distance information developmentally precedes the ability to assess this potential information value.

Aging, cognitive resources, and declarative learning.

A battery of cognitive tasks designed to assess information-processing speed, working memory capability, and declarative learning was administered to a cross-sectional sample of 477 adults ranging in age from 17 to 86 years. Results showed significant age-related decrements in all three constructs. A variety of structural equation models was fit to the results. The preferred model on empirical and conceptual grounds was one that showed (a) working memory capability as the most important mediator of age effects in declarative learning; (b) working memory capability as the mediator for the effects of general processing speed on declarative learning; and (c) differentiation among verbal, numeric, and spatial processing speed and between verbal and spatial working memory capability.

From Knowledge to Words to Wayfinding: Issues in the Production and Comprehension of Route Directions

The production and comprehension of route directions may be considered a successful adaptation in the face of a challenging wayfinding task-travel to an unfamiliar destination.Four important issues related to this adaptation are considered: The overall structure of direction-giving episodes, a component analysis of the content of route descriptions, suggested conventions for conveying wayfinding information, and individual differences in the production and comprehension of route directions. As a final consideration, it is suggested that technological innovations aimed at providing verbal information to assist wayfinding activity be incorporated within a framework focused on the ecology of wayfinding behavior.

Virtual Environments and the Enhancement of Spatial Behavior: Towards a Comprehensive Research Agenda

There is currently much research activity involving virtual environments (VEs) and spatial behavior (spatial perception, cognition, and performance). After some initial remarks describing and categorizing the different types of research being conducted on VEs and spatial behavior, discussion in this Forum paper focuses on one specific type, namely, research concerned with the use of VE technology for training spatial behavior in the real world. We initially present an overview of issues and problems relevant to conducting research in this area, and then, in the latter portion of the paper, present an overview of the research that we believe needs to be done in this area. We have written this paper for the forum section of Presence because, despite its length, it is essentially an opinion piece. Our aim here is not to report the results of research in our own laboratory nor to review the literature, as other available papers already serve these goals. Rather, the primary purpose of this paper is to stimulate open discussion about needed future research. In general, we believe that such a discussion can serve the research establishment as much as reports of completed work.

Aging and path integration skill: Kinesthetic and vestibular contributions to wayfinding

In a triangle completion task designed to assess path integration skill, younger and older adults performed similarly after being led, while blindfolded, along the route segments on foot, which provided both kinesthetic and vestibular information about the outbound path. In contrast, older adults’ performance was impaired, relative to that of younger adults, after they were conveyed, while blindfolded, along the route segments in a wheelchair, which limited them principally to vestibular information. Correlational evidence suggested that cognitive resources were significant factors in accounting for age-related decline in path integration performance.

Cognitive Abilities in the Service of Wayfinding: A Functional Approach

A functionally oriented framework for examining the cognitive abilities that are involved in human wayfinding is suggested. The framework includes a categorical distinction among types of wayfinding tasks (commutes, explores, and quests) and means used most frequently to accomplish these tasks (piloting, repetition of locomotor pattern, path integration, and navigation by cognitive map). The cognitive abilities contributing to these wayfinding means have been demonstrated by research on spatial cognition and behavior or can be inferred from relevant research and theory.

The impact of a wayfinder's goal on learning a new environment: Different types of spatial knowledge as goals

This study investigated whether spatial learning is constrained by stage-based processes or by goal-directed activity by having subjects in different groups attend to different types of spatial information during learning. Before viewing a series of slides depicting a walk through a small town, subjects were given instructions that emphasized: (a) landmarks, (b) routes, (c) configurations, or (d) no specific spatial instructions. Following acquisition, the subjects were assessed for their landmark, route, and configuration knowledge of the environment using four tasks: a landmark recognition task, a route-sequencing task, a spatial orientation task, and a direction-giving task. No differences in performance attributable to instruction condition occurred for either the landmark recognition or route-sequencing tasks. On the orientation task, subjects given configuration instructions outperformed those receiving landmark instructions. In addition, differences were found in the direction-giving protocols both in terms of the quantity and the quality of landmark, route, and configuration information. In general, all subjects provided landmark information; subjects given route or configuration instructions provided more route and configuration information. These findings suggest that wayfinders are capable of learning a new environment according to a goal, but that learning is constrained by stage-based processes.

Shape effects on memory for location

The participants were 40 students who were briefly presented 32 dot locations, one at a time, and attempted to reproduce each location after a short delay. Half of the participants completed the task with the surrounding shapes being a circle, a horizontal ellipse, and a vertical ellipse; for the other half, the surrounding shapes were a square, a triangle, and a pentagon. Elongation of the task field along an axis led to exaggerated bias along that axis, but the pattern of bias was fairly constant across the shapes. The data were modeled by assuming that bias in estimation was due to the weighting of spatial category prototypes. Modeling indicated that shape affected spacing of prototypes, but there was no evidence that it affected the number of prototypes. These results were consistent with use of a viewer-based frame of reference, with prototypes reflecting four spatial quadrants generated by left—right and up—down distinctions from the viewer’s perspective.