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Wayfinding in Children: A Descriptive Literature Review of Research Methods.

Yingying Yang1, Edward C Merrill2

  • 1Department of Psychology, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey, USA.

The Journal of Genetic Psychology
|July 29, 2022
PubMed
Summary

This review highlights the diverse methods used to study children's wayfinding skills. Future research should address methodological inconsistencies and explore cognitive factors more deeply for better synthesis of findings.

Keywords:
Reviewchildrenreal-life environmentvirtual realitywayfinding

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Human Geography

Background:

  • Wayfinding, the skill of navigating to unknown locations, is crucial for child development.
  • Existing research on children's wayfinding exhibits significant methodological diversity, hindering result synthesis.
  • This review systematically analyzes the methods employed in wayfinding development studies.

Approach:

  • A comprehensive literature search identified 96 studies on children aged 4–16 years, published between 1965 and 2020.
  • Studies were categorized by environment type: virtual reality (VR) versus real-life, and indoor versus outdoor.
  • Methodological aspects examined include participants, environments, independent variables (IVs), exposure, dependent variables (DVs), and cognitive/behavioral correlates.

Key Points:

  • The field shows increasing interest in VR environments and atypical development.
  • Landmarks and turn information were common IVs, while cognitive processes like attention and memory received less focus.
  • Diverse DVs assessed landmark, route, and survey knowledge, revealing an imbalance in research focus.

Conclusions:

  • Significant heterogeneity exists in wayfinding research methods, impacting cross-study comparisons.
  • There is a need for greater standardization and a balanced research focus on various aspects of wayfinding.
  • Targeted recommendations are provided to guide future research in children's spatial navigation development.