Active Versus Passive Acquisition of Spatial Knowledge While Controlling a Vehicle in a Virtual Urban Space in Drivers and Non-Drivers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 16912253 |
|---|---|
| Authors | George Sandamas (Middlesex University), Nigel Foreman (ITMO University) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2015-07-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | SAGE Open (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2158-2440 • E-ISSN: 2158-2440 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/2158244015595443 |
| OpenAlex | W1958365617 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 31 |
Historically, real-world studies have indicated a spatial learning advantage for people who actively explore the environment they inhabit as opposed to those whose experience is more passive. A common contrast is made between the spatial learning of car drivers and passengers. However, compared with walking and other forms of transportation, car-driving experience per se has a special status. An experiment was conducted to explore the dual hypotheses that active explorers learn more about the layout of a virtual environment (VE) than passive observers and that real-world car drivers will learn more regardless of their experimental active/passive status. Participants explored a virtual model of a small town in active/passive, pairs. Active exploration was self-directed and goal driven, and all learning tasks were explicit. Consistent with many earlier studies in VEs, there was no benefit from activity (controlling exploration/movement), arguably because input control competes with spatial information acquisition. When participants were divided according to whether they were licensed drivers or not, the results showed that drivers were significantly more accurate than non-drivers at indicating the positions of target locations on a map, in both the active and passive conditions. An interaction showed that in the active condition, drivers had significantly better route scores than non-drivers, and better than drivers in the passive condition. Driving may therefore be beneficial for spatial abilities over and above the general benefits of “activity” and when spatial skills are examined in VEs, driver experience is an important criterion that should be taken into account
Human–computer interaction · Simulation · Computer Science · Geographic Information Systems Studies · Geography Education and Pedagogy · Spatial Cognition and Navigation · Artificial Intelligence
The Development of Spatial Representations of Large-Scale Environments
Drawing maps and remembering landmarks after driving in a virtual small town environment
Drawing Maps and Remembering Landmarks after Driving in a Virtual Small Town Environment
Active Versus Passive Processing of Spatial Information in a Computer-Simulated Environment
Acquisition of Spatial Knowledge Through Visual Exploration of Simulated Environments
Styles and Methods of Structuring a City
Spatial Demands of Concurrent Tasks Can Compromise Spatial Learning of a Virtual Environment
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |