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Cultural background shapes spatial reference frame proclivity

Spatial navigation is an essential human skill that is influenced by several factors. The present study investigates how gender, age, and cultural background account for differences in reference frame proclivity and performance in a virtual navigation task. Using an online navigation study, we recor...

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Autores principales: Goeke, Caspar, Kornpetpanee, Suchada, Köster, Moritz, Fernández-Revelles, Andrés B., Gramann, Klaus, König, Peter
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4466779/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26073656
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep11426
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author Goeke, Caspar
Kornpetpanee, Suchada
Köster, Moritz
Fernández-Revelles, Andrés B.
Gramann, Klaus
König, Peter
author_facet Goeke, Caspar
Kornpetpanee, Suchada
Köster, Moritz
Fernández-Revelles, Andrés B.
Gramann, Klaus
König, Peter
author_sort Goeke, Caspar
collection PubMed
description Spatial navigation is an essential human skill that is influenced by several factors. The present study investigates how gender, age, and cultural background account for differences in reference frame proclivity and performance in a virtual navigation task. Using an online navigation study, we recorded reaction times, error rates (confusion of turning axis), and reference frame proclivity (egocentric vs. allocentric reference frame) of 1823 participants. Reaction times significantly varied with gender and age, but were only marginally influenced by the cultural background of participants. Error rates were in line with these results and exhibited a significant influence of gender and culture, but not age. Participants’ cultural background significantly influenced reference frame selection; the majority of North-Americans preferred an allocentric strategy, while Latin-Americans preferred an egocentric navigation strategy. European and Asian groups were in between these two extremes. Neither the factor of age nor the factor of gender had a direct impact on participants’ navigation strategies. The strong effects of cultural background on navigation strategies without the influence of gender or age underlines the importance of socialized spatial cognitive processes and argues for socio-economic analysis in studies investigating human navigation.
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spelling pubmed-44667792015-06-18 Cultural background shapes spatial reference frame proclivity Goeke, Caspar Kornpetpanee, Suchada Köster, Moritz Fernández-Revelles, Andrés B. Gramann, Klaus König, Peter Sci Rep Article Spatial navigation is an essential human skill that is influenced by several factors. The present study investigates how gender, age, and cultural background account for differences in reference frame proclivity and performance in a virtual navigation task. Using an online navigation study, we recorded reaction times, error rates (confusion of turning axis), and reference frame proclivity (egocentric vs. allocentric reference frame) of 1823 participants. Reaction times significantly varied with gender and age, but were only marginally influenced by the cultural background of participants. Error rates were in line with these results and exhibited a significant influence of gender and culture, but not age. Participants’ cultural background significantly influenced reference frame selection; the majority of North-Americans preferred an allocentric strategy, while Latin-Americans preferred an egocentric navigation strategy. European and Asian groups were in between these two extremes. Neither the factor of age nor the factor of gender had a direct impact on participants’ navigation strategies. The strong effects of cultural background on navigation strategies without the influence of gender or age underlines the importance of socialized spatial cognitive processes and argues for socio-economic analysis in studies investigating human navigation. Nature Publishing Group 2015-06-15 /pmc/articles/PMC4466779/ /pubmed/26073656 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep11426 Text en Copyright © 2015, Macmillan Publishers Limited http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle Article
Goeke, Caspar
Kornpetpanee, Suchada
Köster, Moritz
Fernández-Revelles, Andrés B.
Gramann, Klaus
König, Peter
Cultural background shapes spatial reference frame proclivity
title Cultural background shapes spatial reference frame proclivity
title_full Cultural background shapes spatial reference frame proclivity
title_fullStr Cultural background shapes spatial reference frame proclivity
title_full_unstemmed Cultural background shapes spatial reference frame proclivity
title_short Cultural background shapes spatial reference frame proclivity
title_sort cultural background shapes spatial reference frame proclivity
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4466779/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26073656
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep11426
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