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      Tracing a Route and Finding a Shortcut: The Working Memory, Motivational, and Personality Factors Involved

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          Abstract

          Wayfinding (WF) is the ability to move around efficiently and find the way from a starting point to a destination. It is a component of spatial navigation, a coordinate and goal-directed movement of one’s self through the environment. In the present study, the relationship between WF tasks (route tracing and shortcut finding) and individual factors were explored with the hypothesis that WF tasks would be predicted by different types of cognitive, affective, motivational variables, and personality factors. A group of 116 university students (88 F.) were conducted along a route in a virtual environment and then asked first to trace the same route again, and then to find a shortcut between the start and end points. Several instruments assessing visuospatial working memory, mental rotation ability, self-efficacy, spatial anxiety, positive attitude to exploring, and personality traits were administered. The results showed that a latent spatial ability factor (measured with the visuospatial working memory and mental rotations tests) – controlled for gender – predicted route-tracing performance, while self-report measures of anxiety, efficacy, and pleasure in exploring, and some personality traits were more likely to predict shortcut-finding performance. We concluded that both personality and cognitive abilities affect WF performance, but differently, depending on the requirements of the task.

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          Most cited references40

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          A cognitive-affective system theory of personality: reconceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality structure.

          A theory was proposed to reconcile paradoxical findings on the invariance of personality and the variability of behavior across situations. For this purpose, individuals were assumed to differ in (a) the accessibility of cognitive-affective mediating units (such as encodings, expectancies and beliefs, affects, and goals) and (b) the organization of relationships through which these units interact with each other and with psychological features of situations. The theory accounts for individual differences in predictable patterns of variability across situations (e.g., if A then she X, but if B then she Y), as well as for overall average levels of behavior, as essential expressions or behavioral signatures of the same underlying personality system. Situations, personality dispositions, dynamics, and structure were reconceptualized from this perspective.
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            Mental rotations, a group test of three-dimensional spatial visualization.

            A new paper-and-pencil test of spatial visualization was constructed from the figures used in the chronometric study of Shepard and Metzler (1971). In large samples, the new test displayed substantial internal consistency (Kuder-Richardson 20 = .88), a test-retest reliability (.83), and consistent sex differences over the entire range of ages investigated. Correlations with other measures indicated strong association with tests of spatial visualization and virtually no association with tests of verbal ability.
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              Spatial abilities at different scales: Individual differences in aptitude-test performance and spatial-layout learning

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Front Hum Neurosci
                Front Hum Neurosci
                Front. Hum. Neurosci.
                Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                1662-5161
                30 May 2018
                2018
                : 12
                : 225
                Affiliations
                [1] 1Department of General Psychology, University of Padova , Padova, Italy
                [2] 2Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Applied Psychology, University of Padova , Padova, Italy
                Author notes

                Edited by: Thackery Ian Brown, Georgia Institute of Technology, United States

                Reviewed by: Laura Piccardi, University of L’Aquila, Italy; Simonetta D’Amico, University of L’Aquila, Italy

                *Correspondence: Francesca Pazzaglia, francesca.pazzaglia@ 123456unipd.it
                Article
                10.3389/fnhum.2018.00225
                5988874
                29387003
                a366acb0-e514-45b6-8190-6d24a26e035f
                Copyright © 2018 Pazzaglia, Meneghetti and Ronconi.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

                History
                : 05 March 2018
                : 15 May 2018
                Page count
                Figures: 3, Tables: 1, Equations: 0, References: 54, Pages: 11, Words: 0
                Categories
                Neuroscience
                Original Research

                Neurosciences
                virtual exploration,wayfinding,visuospatial working memory,mental rotation,personality traits,pleasure in exploring,spatial anxiety,self-efficacy

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