Date of Award

Fall 2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Program/Concentration

Psychology

Committee Director

Carryl L. Baldwin

Committee Member

James P. Bliss

Committee Member

Robin J. Lewis

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.P65 R4135 2009

Abstract

Research indicates considerable individual variability exists on a host of tasks that measure navigational ability. This experiment examined the hypothesis that some individuals use verbal and others spatial processing to learn routes. A survey was used to categorize individuals into good or poor sense of direction (GSD or PSD) groups. Then participants learned two routes in a virtual setting; they learned one while engaged in spatial tapping and one while engaged in articulatory suppression. The experimenter led participants through the route once. Participants then traversed the route from memory. During the spatial tapping condition, participants in the GSD group were expected to commit more errors and take longer to navigate than those in the PSD group. Conversely, during the articulatory suppression condition, participants in the PSD group were expected to perform worse than participants in the GSD group. The results show that participants in the GSD group made more errors and took more time during the spatial tapping condition than the articulatory suppression condition. PSD participants took more time during the articulatory suppression condition than the spatial tapping condition. Results also indicate that the tapping task was more difficult than the articulatory suppression task. Applications of the results include improving the usability of route guidance systems and the efficiency of training programs for professions that require proficient navigation.

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In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/ftpr-9v52

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