Individual Differences in Working Memory,Sense of Direction,and Route-Learning

Abstract

The current experiment examined the role of working memory components during route-learning as a function of Sense of Direction. Individuals with good or poor sense of direction (GSD/PSD) were selected a priori. Participants learned routes while performing working memory tasks consisting of spatial interference (SI) or verbal interference (VI). Previous empirical research indicates that GSDs rely on visual-spatial strategies while PSDs rely on verbal strategies for navigation. Based on Baddeley's (1992) working memory model we therefore expected route learning performance to be differentially disrupted by SI in GSDs and VI in PSDs. Providing partial support for our prediction, GSDs took more time and made more errors in routes learned during SI relative to VI, and PSDs were slower when traversing routes learned under VI relative to SI. Our findings show strong individual differences in route-learning performance and provide support for tailoring navigation systems and training programs to reflect these differences.