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Human place and response learning: navigation strategy selection, pupil size and gaze behavior
Olivier de Condappa1, Jan M Wiener2
1Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK. odcondappa@bournemouth.ac.uk.
Psychological Research
|December 25, 2014
Summary
This study shows people initially use less effective navigation strategies but adapt over time. Cognitive effort, measured by pupil dilation, increases with more complex spatial strategies.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Spatial Navigation
Background:
- Wayfinding involves complex cognitive processes.
- Understanding navigation strategy choice is crucial for human factors and AI development.
- Existing research often simplifies the distinction between allocentric and egocentric strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate cognitive processes and ocular behavior during navigation strategy selection.
- To differentiate between allocentric place, egocentric associative cue, and beacon response strategies.
- To analyze strategy shifts and their underlying mechanisms during a route learning task.
Main Methods:
- Route learning paradigm with participants indicating direction at intersections.
- Assessment of strategy choice across six experimental blocks.
- Analysis of behavioral data (response accuracy, latency) and pupillometry.
Main Results:
- An initial bias towards a less optimal beacon response strategy was observed.
- Participants shifted towards the more adaptive allocentric place strategy over time.
- Pupil dilation correlated with the use of cognitively demanding strategies, suggesting effortful processing.
- Visual attention focused on landmarks and movement direction, irrespective of the strategy employed.
Conclusions:
- Navigation strategy choice evolves during learning, moving from simpler to more complex methods.
- The allocentric place strategy involves spatial transformations rather than direct allocentric representation access.
- Pupillary responses serve as a reliable indicator of cognitive load during navigation.
- Landmark encoding appears consistent across different navigation strategies, highlighting parallel learning processes.
