Individual differences in large-spaces orientation: g and beyond?

Abstract The relationships between the major abilities ( g , Gv and Gc) and general processes in wayfinding (Updating one’s position, Route representation, and Survey representation) are analyzed. Seven wayfinding tasks were developed for the present study: two of them were field tasks and five were computerized. The participants were 111 psychology undergraduate students. Updating tasks were used as a criterion measure of large-scale space orientation. We tried to isolate the g effects over Gc and Gv. Structural equation modeling was used for the analyses. Results indicated that Updating one’s position was influenced by g and Gv_ s (Gv_specific part), but not by Gc_ s (Gc_specific part) or the remaining orientation processes. However, some of the Updating variance remains unexplained.

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