Investigating the mediating effects of working memory and processing speed on age-related differences in visual path integration
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Working memory and processing speed were previously shown to account for age-related differences in real-world path integration performance, and the current study investigated whether these cognitive factors similarly contributed to age-related differences in visual path integration in a virtual environment. Neuropsychological assessment showed that letter-number sequencing, a test of working memory, emerged as the only cognitive measure that exhibited significant incremental variance in visual path integration beyond age, contributing to a third of the total age-related variance in visual path integration (33.1%). Self-reported computer experience and test performance on spatial span, processing speed, and verbal memory did not elicit any significant incremental variance in visual path integration beyond age. Taken together, we interpreted these findings as representing a divergence between the visuospatial processes engaged when performing the spatial span and visual path integration tasks, and that the cognitive test measures of processing speed might be less sensitive to visual path integration performance, which indexed less perceptual processing than real-world path integration due to the absence of proprioceptive cues. Importantly, this study demonstrated path integration as an inherently complex navigation task that may engage cognitive processes or functions differently under distinct environmental or testing conditions. As a marked decline in path integration ability is commonly observed among older adults who are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the current findings will have positive benefits for future studies that aim to pinpoint the cognitive processes or factors that contribute to or underlie the navigational difficulties of aged individuals with incipient AD.
Source: PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints)
Author: Jimmy Y. Zhong
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7211952039