A slippery directional slope: Individual differences in using slope as a directional cue
A slippery directional slope: Individual differences in using slope as a directional cue
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滑坡方向：使用坡度作为方向提示的个体差异
作者：
Steven M. Weisberg;N. Newcombe
导航员依靠许多不同类型的线索来构建大规模空间的表示。斜坡地形是一个重要的线索，最近受到比较和人类空间研究的关注。然而，迄今为止的研究一直无法确定方向坡度信息如何导致更准确的空间表示。此外，尽管一些研究表明，包含坡度线索可以提高参与者在空间任务中的表现（Kelly，2011; Restat，Steck，Mochnatzki，& Mallot，2004），其他研究表明坡度线索的益处存在个体差异（Chai & Jacobs，2010; Nardi，Newcombe，& Shipley，2011）。我们试图澄清倾斜地形在改善大规模环境的代表性的作用。在实验1中，参与者学习了两个桌面虚拟环境中的建筑物布局：定向倾斜地形或完全平坦的地形。倾斜环境中的参与者表现优于平坦环境中的参与者。然而，参与者使用坡度信息作为额外的提示，而不是作为首选的参考方向。在实验2中，两个虚拟环境仍然是平坦或倾斜的，但我们增加了坡度和路径之间关系的复杂性。在这个实验中，只有自我报告方向感良好的参与者在倾斜环境中表现更好。总之，这些研究表明，在简单的情况下，坡度为构建环境表征提供了有用的信息，但在更复杂的情况下，个体差异会出现。我们认为好的和坏的导航员使用不同的导航策略。
Navigators rely on many different types of cues to build representations of large-scale spaces. Sloped terrain is an important cue that has received recent attention in comparative and human spatial research. However, the studies to date have been unable to determine how directional slope information leads to more accurate spatial representations. Moreover, whereas some studies have shown that the inclusion of slope cues improves performance on spatial tasks across participants (Kelly, 2011; Restat, Steck, Mochnatzki, & Mallot, 2004), other research has suggested individual differences in the benefits of slope cues (Chai & Jacobs, 2010; Nardi, Newcombe, & Shipley, 2011). We sought to clarify the role of sloped terrain in improving the representation of large-scale environments. In Experiment 1, participants learned the layout of buildings in one of two desktop virtual environments: either a directionally sloped terrain or a completely flat one. Participants in the sloped environment outperformed those in the flat environment. However, participants used slope information as an additional cue, rather than as a preferred reference direction. In Experiment 2, the two virtual environments were again either flat or sloped, but we increased the complexity of the relations between the slope and the path. In this experiment, better performance in the sloped environment was only seen for participants with good self-reported senses of direction. Taken together, the studies show that slope provides useful information for building environmental representations in simple cases, but that individual differences emerge in more complex situations. We suggest that good and bad navigators use different navigational strategies.