Wayfinding Behavior and Spatial Knowledge of Adults and Children in a Virtual Environment: The Role of the Environmental Structure

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of regularity in environmental structure on wayfinding behavior and spatial knowledge. A total of 60 participants (7- to 8-year-olds, 11- to12-year-olds, and adults) performed self-determined movements in a desktop virtual environment. In almost all measurements of wayfinding performance and spatial knowledge an overall developmental progress from younger children to adults was found. In contrast, exploration behavior did not differ between adults and children Furthermore, the environmental structure tended to influence only the wayfinding performance of younger children, but did not have any effect on the exploration behavior and the spatial knowledge of children or adults. This outcome supports the idea of a dissociation between exploration behavior, wayfinding performance and spatial knowledge as distinct aspects of spatial cognition.