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Navigating in Virtual Environments: Does a Map or a Map-Based Description Presented Beforehand Help?
Background. One of the aims of research in spatial cognition is to examine the factors capable of optimizing environment learning from navigation, which can be examined using a virtual environment (VE). Different learning conditions can play an important part. Aim. This study examined the benefits o...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8230476/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34200894 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11060773 |
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author | Meneghetti, Chiara Pazzaglia, Francesca |
author_facet | Meneghetti, Chiara Pazzaglia, Francesca |
author_sort | Meneghetti, Chiara |
collection | PubMed |
description | Background. One of the aims of research in spatial cognition is to examine the factors capable of optimizing environment learning from navigation, which can be examined using a virtual environment (VE). Different learning conditions can play an important part. Aim. This study examined the benefits of presenting configured information (layout with elements arranged in it) using a map or verbal description before a learner navigates in a new environment. Method. Ninety participants were assigned to three learning groups of 30 individuals (15 males and 15 females). Before participants navigated in a VE, one group was shown a map of the environment (“map before navigation”), a second group read a map-like description of the environment (“description before navigation”), and a third group started navigating without any prior input (“only navigation”). Participants then learned a path in a VE (presented as if they were driving a car). Their recall was subsequently tested using three types of task: (i) route retracing; (ii) pointing; (iii) path drawing. Several measures were administered to assess participants’ individual visuospatial and verbal factors. Results. There were no differences between the three groups in route retracing. The “map before navigation” group performed better than the “only navigation” group in both the pointing and the path drawing tasks, however, and also outperformed the “description before navigation” group in the path drawing task. Some relations emerged between participants’ individual difference factors and their recall performance. Conclusions. In learning from navigation, seeing a map beforehand benefits learning accuracy. Recall performance is also supported, at least in part, by individual visuospatial and verbal factors. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8230476 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-82304762021-06-26 Navigating in Virtual Environments: Does a Map or a Map-Based Description Presented Beforehand Help? Meneghetti, Chiara Pazzaglia, Francesca Brain Sci Article Background. One of the aims of research in spatial cognition is to examine the factors capable of optimizing environment learning from navigation, which can be examined using a virtual environment (VE). Different learning conditions can play an important part. Aim. This study examined the benefits of presenting configured information (layout with elements arranged in it) using a map or verbal description before a learner navigates in a new environment. Method. Ninety participants were assigned to three learning groups of 30 individuals (15 males and 15 females). Before participants navigated in a VE, one group was shown a map of the environment (“map before navigation”), a second group read a map-like description of the environment (“description before navigation”), and a third group started navigating without any prior input (“only navigation”). Participants then learned a path in a VE (presented as if they were driving a car). Their recall was subsequently tested using three types of task: (i) route retracing; (ii) pointing; (iii) path drawing. Several measures were administered to assess participants’ individual visuospatial and verbal factors. Results. There were no differences between the three groups in route retracing. The “map before navigation” group performed better than the “only navigation” group in both the pointing and the path drawing tasks, however, and also outperformed the “description before navigation” group in the path drawing task. Some relations emerged between participants’ individual difference factors and their recall performance. Conclusions. In learning from navigation, seeing a map beforehand benefits learning accuracy. Recall performance is also supported, at least in part, by individual visuospatial and verbal factors. MDPI 2021-06-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8230476/ /pubmed/34200894 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11060773 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Meneghetti, Chiara Pazzaglia, Francesca Navigating in Virtual Environments: Does a Map or a Map-Based Description Presented Beforehand Help? |
title | Navigating in Virtual Environments: Does a Map or a Map-Based Description Presented Beforehand Help? |
title_full | Navigating in Virtual Environments: Does a Map or a Map-Based Description Presented Beforehand Help? |
title_fullStr | Navigating in Virtual Environments: Does a Map or a Map-Based Description Presented Beforehand Help? |
title_full_unstemmed | Navigating in Virtual Environments: Does a Map or a Map-Based Description Presented Beforehand Help? |
title_short | Navigating in Virtual Environments: Does a Map or a Map-Based Description Presented Beforehand Help? |
title_sort | navigating in virtual environments: does a map or a map-based description presented beforehand help? |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8230476/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34200894 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11060773 |
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