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Updated: Jul 20, 2025

Author Spotlight: Investigating the Effects of Mind-Body-Movement Practices on Brain Function
Published on: January 26, 2024
Investigating the different domains of environmental knowledge acquired from virtual navigation and their
Veronica Muffato1, Laura Miola2, Marilina Pellegrini2
1Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy. veronica.muffato@unipd.it.
Abstract:
When learning an environment from virtual navigation people gain knowledge about landmarks, their locations, and the paths that connect them. The present study newly aimed to investigate all these domains of knowledge and how cognitive factors such as visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations might support virtual passive navigation. A total of 270 participants (145 women) were tested online. They: (i) completed visuospatial tasks and answered questionnaires on their wayfinding inclinations; and (ii) learnt a virtual path. The environmental knowledge they gained was assessed on their free recall of landmarks, their egocentric and allocentric pointing accuracy (location knowledge), and their performance in route direction and landmark location tasks (path knowledge). Visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations emerged as two separate factors, and environmental knowledge as a single factor. The SEM model showed that both visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations support the environmental knowledge factor, with similar pattern of relationships in men and women. Overall, factors related to the individual are relevant to the environmental knowledge gained from an online virtual passive navigation.
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