Collaborative Research: Decision Processes in Human Navigation

合作研究：人类导航的决策过程

• 批准号: 2217889
• 负责人: Timothy McNamara
• 金额: $ 34.87万
• 依托单位: Vanderbilt University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-15 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2217889&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Decision; Processes; Human

Navigating successfully from one place to another can require difficult decisions. We often need to consider the costs and the benefits of possible routes. For example, the best walking path between downtown buildings may be a short outdoor path when the weather is pleasant or a longer path through indoor passageways during overly hot or cold months. We also use our knowledge to make decisions about where to search for something that we need. Experienced drivers know, for example, that a strip mall is a better place to find a gas station than is a residential neighborhood. We also may need to decide whether we know an environment well enough to rely on our memories and sense of direction or should use the mapping app on our cell phones. To make good choices and to keep from getting lost, we need to rely on several sources of information. One important source is what we see, such as roads, trails, and familiar places. Another important source is from our bodies: As we walk and turn, even with our eyes closed, we have a sense of how far we have traveled and which directions we are facing. These sources of information tell us where we are, where we are headed, and how hard it will be to get there (e.g., climbing a steep hill vs. walking around it). This research investigates how people make these sorts of decisions, deal with conflicting sources of information (e.g., our sense of direction indicates that we should turn left but a familiar landmark indicates that we should turn right), and use navigation aids (e.g., an overhead map of the environment). The investigators will use mathematical models of people’s choices and actions to understand how the human brain stores and uses spatial knowledge for navigation. The results can inform the use of technology, ranging from movement interfaces for video games to GPS-enabled maps. The investigators explore the ways in which navigational decisions and actions are affected by (a) spatial cues about the navigator’s location and the goal location (e.g., landmarks in the environment, body-based cues from walking and turning), (b) costs associated with possible choices (e.g., effort, time), and (c) individual characteristics of the navigator (e.g., spatial ability, risk tolerance). Experiments use immersive virtual reality to maintain tight control over the visual scene while allowing for full physical movement during navigation; this technology allows navigators to walk and turn in virtual environments just as they do in the real world. The experiments examine 1) how navigators use information from multiple spatial cues to find a goal when those cues are inconsistent with one another; 2) how navigators account for navigational costs, as when choosing between a short path through deep sand or a longer path on firm ground; 3) how navigators use prior knowledge to make navigational decisions, as when selecting the most likely place to search for a restaurant within an unfamiliar city, knowing that a restaurant is more likely to be located in a business district than a residential neighborhood; and 4) how navigators combine spatial information from technology, such as that provided by a GPS-enabled map, with natural cues provided by vision and bodily movement. Computational models of the cognitive processes involved in human navigation will be used to expand explanatory theories of human decisions and actions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

成功地从一个地方导航到另一个地方可能需要做出艰难的决定。 我们经常需要考虑可能路线的成本和收益。 例如，当天气宜人时，市中心建筑物之间的最佳步行路径可能是一条较短的室外路径，或者在过热或过冷的月份中穿过室内通道的较长路径。 我们还利用我们的知识来决定在哪里寻找我们需要的东西。 例如，经验丰富的司机知道，与住宅区相比，露天购物中心更适合找到加油站。 我们可能还需要决定我们是否足够了解环境以依赖我们的记忆和方向感，或者应该使用手机上的地图应用程序。 为了做出正确的选择并避免迷失方向，我们需要依赖多种信息来源。一个重要的来源是我们所看到的，例如道路、小径和熟悉的地方。 另一个重要的来源来自我们的身体：当我们行走和转身时，即使闭上眼睛，我们也能感觉到我们已经走了多远以及我们面临着哪个方向。 这些信息来源告诉我们我们在哪里，我们要去哪里，以及到达那里有多困难（例如，爬陡峭的山坡与绕山行走）。 这项研究调查了人们如何做出此类决定、处理相互冲突的信息源（例如，我们的方向感表明我们应该向左转，但熟悉的地标表明我们应该向右转）以及使用导航辅助设备（例如，环境俯视图）。 研究人员将使用人们的选择和行动的数学模型来了解人脑如何存储和使用空间知识进行导航。 结果可以为技术的使用提供信息，从视频游戏的运动界面到支持 GPS 的地图。研究人员探索了导航决策和行动受到以下因素影响的方式：（a）有关导航者位置和目标位置的空间线索（例如，环境中的地标、步行和转弯的基于身体的线索），（b）与可能的选择相关的成本（例如，精力、时间），以及（c）导航者的个人特征（例如，空间能力、风险承受能力）。实验使用沉浸式虚拟现实来保持对视觉场景的严格控制，同时允许在导航过程中进行完整的物理运动；这项技术允许导航员在虚拟环境中行走和转弯，就像在现实世界中一样。这些实验研究了：1）当这些线索彼此不一致时，导航员如何使用来自多个空间线索的信息来找到目标； 2) 航海者如何考虑航行成本，例如在穿过深沙的短路径或在坚固地面上的较长路径之间进行选择时； 3）导航员如何利用先验知识做出导航决策，例如在知道餐厅更有可能位于商业区而不是住宅区的情况下，选择最有可能在陌生城市中搜索餐厅的地点时； 4) 导航员如何将技术中的空间信息（例如支持 GPS 的地图提供的空间信息）与视觉和身体运动提供的自然提示结合起来。 人类导航中涉及的认知过程的计算模型将用于扩展人类决策和行动的解释理论。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。