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Choice between decision-making strategies in human route-following
Otmar Bock1, Ju-Yi Huang2, Özgür A Onur3
1Institute of Exercise Training and Sport Informatics, German Sport University Cologne, 50927, Cologne, Germany. bock@dshs-koeln.de.
Memory & Cognition
|April 26, 2023
Summary
When navigating, people use both route order and landmark cues, not just one strategy. This dual encoding of spatial information enhances route-following accuracy, even with simple memory loads.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Spatial Navigation
Background:
- Route following requires memory for directions.
- Two primary strategies exist: serial order of directions or spatial cue-direction associations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate which navigation strategy participants employ when both are available.
- To determine if participants select the optimal strategy or utilize both.
Main Methods:
- Three tasks were used: Task S (serial order only), Task A (associative cue only), and Task SA (both strategies available).
- Route-following accuracy was measured across different route lengths (12 vs. 18 intersections) and tasks.
- Knowledge acquisition of both serial order and cue-direction associations was assessed.
Main Results:
- Route-following accuracy improved with experience and was better on shorter routes (12 intersections).
- Task SA, where both strategies were available, yielded higher accuracy than Tasks S and A.
- Participants in Task SA demonstrated learning of both serial order and cue-direction associations.
Conclusions:
- When both serial order and spatial cue strategies are available, individuals engage in dual encoding, utilizing both.
- Dual encoding enhances route-following performance.
- This dual encoding strategy can be employed even with relatively low memory loads, such as 12 intersections.
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