The Effects of Boundary Manipulations on Navigational Abilities

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to see how manipulating boundaries impact one’s spatial memory in unfamiliar spaces. To test this, after we measured our participants’ Sense of Direction (SOD) and memory capacities, they were equally divided up into three separate training conditions: an abstract environment, a translucent environment, and a control environment. Afterwards, they were evaluated using wayfinding and pointing tasks. Our results indicated that the abstract training significantly impacted those with varying SOD’s. Those with low SOD’s in the control condition outperformed their abstract counterparts in wayfinding, and those with high SOD’s in the opaque abstract condition outperformed their control counterparts in the pointing tasks. This could be due to their reliance on different navigation strategies. In this case piloting versus path integration, respectively. Regardless, this study emphasizes the need to further investigate other methods of boundary manipulation that will potentially affect people’s spatial abilities.