How good are these directions? Determining direction quality and wayfinding efficiency
Highlights
► We addressed skillful wayfinding by probing effectiveness ratings and wayfinding efficiency. ► Effectiveness ratings increased as the number of descriptive features increased. ► Survey directions were indicative of low ratings. Route directions were indicative of high ratings. ► Route directions and good sense of direction resulted in fewer wayfinding errors. ► Sense of direction, wayfinding strategies, spatial anxiety, and mental rotation were related.
Section snippets
Study 1
Our goal was to assess people’s responses to different types of wayfinding directions. Participants read sets of descriptions of four routes through the basement of a complex university building. They were asked to rate each description based on its effectiveness for aiding wayfinding using a 7-point scale. In contrast to previous studies where participants provided the directions to be rated (Denis et al., 1999, Honda and Nihei, 2004, Hund et al., 2008), we created the directions for this
Participants
Fifty-three college students (29 men, 24 women) participated. Their ages ranged from 19 to 31 years (M = 20.96 years). Data from two additional participants were omitted because of researcher error. Participants were recruited through the Department of Psychology college student participant pool and received credit in their psychology courses.
Apparatus and materials
Descriptions. A set of four routes from starting locations to destinations was utilized. The starting locations and destinations were the windows
Results and discussion
The primary goal of this study was to specify the types of descriptive features contained in effective and ineffective route descriptions. We averaged the effectiveness ratings across trials for each type of description.2
Study 2
The goal of Study 2 was to compare wayfinding efficiency and effectiveness ratings involving descriptions containing details consistent with route and survey perspectives, which received high and low ratings in the previous study, respectively. We selected directions with left-rights and landmarks at choice points (route perspective) and directions with cardinal directions and distances (survey perspective) for this experimental examination of wayfinding efficiency (see Appendix for examples).
Participants
Eighty-four participants (40 men, 44 women) were included in this study. Their ages ranged from 18 to 29 years (M = 20.28 years). Participants were recruited and compensated in the same manner as in Study 1.
Apparatus and materials
A subset of 8 route descriptions from Study 1 was used here. Each route was presented on a laminated half-sheet of paper for participants to read. Participants were randomly assigned to follow one of two sets of 4 descriptions, each containing 2 route directions and 2 survey directions
Results and discussion
One goal of this study was to examine the effectiveness of route and survey directions (deemed high and low in quality, respectively) in terns of ratings and wayfinding efficiency to determine whether inconsistencies in previous findings stem from differences in spatial scale or cognitive task demands. First, we examined how gender, descriptor type, and self-reported sense of direction affected wayfinding time and errors. A median split was used to divide the sample into poor and good sense of
General discussion
The overall goal of this project was to specify the quality of wayfinding directions using effectiveness ratings and behavioral indices. A secondary goal was to examine how sense of direction and gender relate to wayfinding in an everyday, indoor environment. First, survey and route descriptors had an important impact on ratings of direction quality and behavioral indices of wayfinding efficiency, as we expected. In both studies, survey descriptors containing cardinal directions received low
Acknowledgments
Experiment 1 was completed in partial fulfillment of the Master of Science degree in Psychology by the first author. We thank Anika Tharnstrom, Christina Frontera, John Cayer, Kelly Edge, and Stephanie Smetana for help with data collection and coding. We also thank J. Cooper Cutting, Karla Doepke, and J. Scott Jordan for helpful discussions and comments.
References (48)
- et al.
The well-worn route and the path less traveled: Distinct neural bases of route following and wayfinding in humans
Neuron
(2003) - et al.
Spatial abilities at different scales: Individual differences in aptitude-test performance and spatial-layout learning
Intelligence
(2006) - et al.
Development of a self-report measure of environmental spatial ability
Intelligence
(2002) - et al.
The effects of sense of direction and training experience on wayfinding efficiency
Journal of Environmental Psychology
(2009) - et al.
Direction giving and following in the service of wayfinding in a complex indoor environment
Journal of Environmental Psychology
(2010) - et al.
Individual differences in wayfinding strategies
Journal of Environmental Psychology
(2003) - et al.
The impact of a wayfinder’s goal on learning a new environment: Different types of spatial knowledge as goals
Journal of Environmental Psychology
(1995) - et al.
The relations among wayfinding strategy use, sense of direction, sex, familiarity, and wayfinding ability
Journal of Environmental Psychology
(2000) - et al.
Perspective in spatial descriptions
Journal of Memory and Language
(1996) Principles and practices for communicating route knowledge
Applied Cognitive Psychology
(2000)
Personality correlates of sense of direction and geographical orientation
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Mapping out spatial ability: Sex differences in way-finding ability
Perceptual and Motor Skills
Testing the value of route directions through navigational performance
Spatial Cognition and Computation
Working memory, cues, and wayfinding in older women
Journal of Applied Gerontology
Spatial discourse and navigation: An analysis of route directions in the city of Venice
Applied Cognitive Psychology
Giving directions: Gender and perceived quality
Journal of Applied Social Psychology
Playing an action video game reduces gender differences in spatial cognition
Psychological Science
Individual skill differences and large-scale environmental learning
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
Visualization: A metacognitive skill in science and science education
Sex differences in wayfinding behavior using well- or poorly-written route descriptions
Tohoku Psychologica Folia
The role of recipient perspective in giving and following wayfinding directions
Applied Cognitive Psychology
Getting from here to there: Spatial anxiety, wayfinding strategies, direction type, and wayfinding efficiency
Spatial Cognition and Computation
Memory for object location and route direction in virtual large-scale space
The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Cognitive coordinate systems: Accounts of mental rotation and individual differences in spatial ability
Psychological Review
Cited by (36)
HiVG: A hierarchical indoor visibility-based graph for navigation guidance in multi-storey buildings
2022, Computers, Environment and Urban SystemsCitation Excerpt :The level of detail of route instructions provided by route givers is typically adaptive to a variety of contextual factors, such as the familiarity of wayfinders with environments (Lovelace, Hegarty, & Montello, 1999; Tomko & Winter, 2009; Zhou et al., 2021; Ziegler et al., 2011), and the complexity of the guided routes (Richter & Klippel, 2004). A suitable instruction benefits its recipients, that is, the route receivers, in understanding, memorising, and following route instructions with low cognitive load (Daniel & Denis, 2004; Padgitt & Hund, 2012). Additionally, route instructions on varying LODs benefit wayfinders not only in outdoor environments but also in complex multi-storey indoor environments (Winter et al., 2018).
The role of survey details for wayfinding problem in complex pedestrian underground interchange with poor architectural configuration
2021, Tunnelling and Underground Space TechnologyCitation Excerpt :Another individual difference factor is gender, which is often corresponding to perspective differences (Padgitt and Hund, 2012). Although certainly not conclusive, males depending more on survey details and females depending more on Route details (Padgitt and Hund, 2012; Hegarty et al., 2006). People with a good self-reported sense of direction have a Survey perspective rather than a Route perspective (Padgitt and Hund, 2012).
Drivers’ acceptance of mobile navigation applications: An extended technology acceptance model considering drivers’ sense of direction, navigation application affinity and distraction perception
2021, International Journal of Human Computer StudiesEnhancing Patients' Wayfinding and Visitation Experience Improves Quality of Care
2020, Journal of Perianesthesia NursingExploring staircases as architectural cues in virtual vertical navigation
2020, International Journal of Human Computer Studies