Effects of Spatial Intelligence and Gender on Wayfinding Strategy and Performance

Abstract

In a wayfinding field study the effects of spatial intelligence and gender on wayfinding strategy and the amount of configurational wayfinding knowledge were investigated. This was done in an attempt to shed some additional light on the mixed evidence regarding the precise role of these factors yielded by previous studies. Subjects were asked to describe a route in a familiar city using landmark-based directions and route-based directions (e.g., go-left, go-straight). Configurational knowledge was measured by having subjects position a number of well-known buildings on a schematic map of the same city. Familiarity with the city was used in the analyses as a covariate. Results show that men tend to report more route-based directions, relative to landmark-based directions, than women do. Men also have better configurational knowledge. These effects could not be attributed to the person's score on a spatial intelligence test and the person's familiarity with the city. However, spatial intelligence was not related to the type of wayfinding directions preferred (landmark-based or route-based), nor to the quality of configurational knowledge. Practical and theoretical implications are indicated.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Brown

L.N.

Lahar

C.J.

Mosley

J.L.

(1998). Age and gender-related differences in strategy use for route information: A “map-present” direction-giving paradigm. Environment and Behavior, 30, 123–143.

Charleston

S.I.

(2002). Explaining variability in wayfinding performance: The role of strategy after accounting for spatial ability, configural knowledge and gender. Dissertation abstracts international section A, Humanities and social sciences, 63(1A), 80.

Eliot

McFarlane-Smith

(1983). An international directory of spatial tests. Windsor-Berks: Nfer-Nelson.

Glück

Fitting

(2003). Spatial strategy selection: Interesting incremental information. International Journal of Testing, 3(3), 293–308.

Evers

Lucassen

(1991). DAT1983. Lisse, The Netherlands: Swets Test Services. Adapted from G.K. Bennett, H.G. Seashore, & A.G. Wesman (1974). Differential aptitude tests forms S and T.

Infield

S.E.

(1991). An investigation into the relationship between navigation skill and spatial abilities. Dissertation abstracts international, 52(5–B), 2800.

Kato

Takeuchi

(2003). Individual differences in wayfinding strategies. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23, 171–188.

Kelley

C.L.

Charness

(1995). Issues in training older adults to use computers. Behavior and Information Technology, 14, 107–120.

Kirasic

K.C.

(2000). Age differences in adults' spatial abilities, learning environmental layout, and wayfinding behavior. Spatial Cognition and Computation, 2(2), 117–134.

10.

Laberge

J.C.

Scialfa

C.T.

(2005). Predictors of Web Navigation Performance in a Life Span Sample of Adults. Human Factors, 14, 2, 289–302.

11.

Lawton

C.A.

Charleston

S.I.

Zieles

A.S.

(1996). Individual and gender-related differences in indoor wayfinding. Environment and Behavior, 28(2), 204–219.

12.

Linn

M.C.

Petersen

A.C.

(1985). Emergence and Characterization of Sex Differences in Spatial Ability: A Meta-Analysis Child Development, 56(6), 1479–1498.

13.

Lohman

D.F.

(1979). Spatial ability: review and re-analysis of the correlational literature. Stanford University Technical Report No. 8.

14.

Prestopnik

J.L.

Roskos-Ewoldsen

(2000). The relations among wayfinding strategy use, sense of direction, sex, familiarity, and wayfinding ability. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 20, 177–191.

15.

Schmitz

(1999). Gender differences in acquisition of environmental knowledge related to wayfinding behavior, spatial anxiety and self-estimated environmental competencies. Sex Roles, 41(1/2), 71–93.