2025/04/21 by Adam Barnas, Jeffrey Kunath, Eliany Perez +4 · 1 voice
Engineering · #Spatial Cognition and Navigation
paper · doi:10.1037/pag0000896
openalex publication_date 2025/04/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/24
= 65) adults completed two sessions of a desktop virtual navigation strategy task in which they could navigate to goal locations following a familiar route or taking a novel shortcut. In the first session, all participants received the instruction to navigate to goal locations. In the second session, half received the same instruction as before and the other half was instructed to take shortcuts. We computed participants' tendency toward place- or response-based strategies in each session. We replicated the finding that younger adults took more shortcuts when instructed; however, counter to our prediction, the instruction manipulation had no effect in older adults. These findings suggest that navigation strategy in younger adults is flexible and may reflect preference, whereas older adults more rigidly adhere to familiar routes, implying impaired or degraded survey knowledge. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).