Sketch-map variables as predictors of way-finding performance

Abstract In a study of way-finding problem solving ability, 45 participants were individually taken to and given a tour of the downtown business area of a small town. Twenty buildings were pointed out in the course of the tour. Following the tour, participants drew sketch maps of the downtown area including as many of the buildings as they could remember. A performance task in which they had to find eight of the buildings then followed. Individual difference measures including self-efficacy, visualization, orientation, and sense-of-direction were administered. Sketch map variables were the best predictors of way-finding performance with the adjacent building score, a measure of topological accuracy of sketch map accuracy the best predictor.

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