Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Using a Virtual Store As a Research Tool to Investigate Consumer In-store Behavior
Published on: July 24, 2017
Sex differences in spatial object-location memory in a virtual grocery store
Mary V Spiers1, Maiko Sakamoto, Richard J Elliott
1Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. spiersm@drexel.edu
Abstract:
The grocery shopping Virtual Reality Spatial Object-Location Test (VRSOLT) was developed to examine sex differences in spatial object-location memory in a 3D virtual environment that simulates the real world. Forty college students (20 males, 20 females) were tested on the VRSOLT as well as mental rotation and 2D object-location memory tasks. Both convergent and divergent validity was demonstrated. Males showed an advantage on mental rotation, and results of the VRSOLT grocery store test replicated the female object-location advantage seen in 2D tests. A strategy of systematically navigating the environment may aid female encoding for object location.
Related Concept Videos
Storage
Serial Position Effect
Vectors in Space: Problem Solving
Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

