Uncertainty promotes information-seeking actions, but what information?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Human Navigation
• Spatial Cognition

Background:

• Navigational uncertainty is a common experience when exploring new environments.
• Understanding the specific information people seek during uncertainty is crucial for navigation research.
• Existing research provides a foundation but lacks detailed insights into information-seeking behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review cognitive literature on information seeking during navigational uncertainty.
• To propose empirical approaches for studying information-seeking actions.
• To highlight the value of continuous navigation data in understanding spatial decision-making.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of cognitive and navigational research.
• Proposal of empirical methods, including spatial reorientation paradigms.
• Emphasis on analyzing continuous navigation data, moving beyond final choices.

Main Results:

• Identified key information types sought during uncertainty: landmarks, landmark configurations, and environmental geometry.
• Proposed that continuous behavioral data can reveal the cognition-action loop.
• Demonstrated the utility of spatial reorientation to induce and study uncertainty.

Conclusions:

• Continuous navigation data provides richer insights into spatial learning and decision-making than traditional outcome measures.
• Further empirical investigation using continuous data is recommended to understand information seeking under uncertainty.
• This approach can enhance our understanding of how people navigate and learn in complex environments.