Abstract
Studies of spatial representation generally focus on flat environments and visual stimuli. However, the world is not flat, and slopes are part of many natural environments. In a series of four experiments, we examined whether humans can use a slope as a source of allocentric, directional information for reorientation. A target was hidden in a corner of a square, featureless enclosure tilted at a 5° angle. Finding it required using the vestibular, kinesthetic and visual cues associated with the slope gradient. Participants succeeded in the task; however, a large sex difference emerged. Men showed a greater ability in using slope and a greater preference for relying on slope as a searching strategy. The female disadvantage was not due to wearing heeled shoes, but was probably related to a greater difficulty in extracting the vertical axis of the slope.
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Nardi, D., Newcombe, N.S., Shipley, T.F. (2010). The Role of Slope in Human Reorientation. In: Hölscher, C., Shipley, T.F., Olivetti Belardinelli, M., Bateman, J.A., Newcombe, N.S. (eds) Spatial Cognition VII. Spatial Cognition 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 6222. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14749-4_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14749-4_6
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