An Examination of the Influence of Landmarks in Human Spatial Navigation Using a Virtual Water Maze
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Research into spatial memory and navigation excelled with the invention of the Morris Water\nMaze (Morris, 1984). In this task animals are required to find a platform, hidden somewhere\nin a large circular pool of water (below surface level). As animals cannot see the goal directly,\nthey must use various cues in the environment to locate it and escape. Research has shown that\nlandmarks exert control over an animal’s navigation ability. Recently, the Commins Lab has\ndeveloped a virtual version of the Morris water maze task for use with humans; NavWell. This\nthesis established that the spatial behaviour of human participants navigating in NavWell is\nalso controlled by virtual landmarks. In Experiment 1, participants trained to navigate with two\nlandmarks, searched inaccurately during a recall trial with no landmarks and landmarks rotated\n180°. However, does the visual saliency of these landmarks (e.g. brightness) influence our\nability to recall a goal location during navigation? In Experiments 2, 3 & 4, we examined this\nquestion. In Experiment 2, participants were trained with a bright landmark near the target and\na dim landmark far from the target. Participants were then examined with one cue in isolation\nor both. The group with the dim landmark searched incorrectly compared to the bright group.\nIn Experiment 3, we controlled for brightness by switching the bright and dim landmark\npositions. Participants with the bright landmark searched incorrectly, but the dim group\nsearched in the correct quadrant of the pool. In a final experiment, brightness was removed as a feature completely. Participants were trained with two landmarks of equal brightness levels.\nHere, the group with the landmark nearest the platform searched more accurately. The evidence\nfor an associative learning model of human navigation, as well as the importance of proximity\nas a nontangible influence for landmark preference were then discussed.
Author: Conor Thornberry
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3209204773