The Effects of Age, Spatial Ability, and Navigational Information on Navigational Performance

FOREWORD This report presents the results of a laboratory study that examined the relationship between age, spatial ability, and navigational skill. The results were that older drivers and drivers with lower spatial ability showed worse navigational performance than younger drivers and drivers with higher spatial ability. However, a simulated in-vehicle turn-by-turn route guidance display enhanced navigational performance for both older and younger drivers, and for drivers with varying spatial abilities. The study was conducted in the VIDSIM laboratory, a part-task driving simulator that is part of the Human Factors Laboratory at the Federal Highway Administration's Sufficient copies of the report are being distributed to provide a minimum of two copies to each FHWA regional and division office, and five copies to each State highway agency. Direct distribution is being made to division offices. NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade and manufacturers' names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the object of the document. The purpose of the study reported here was to examine whether age and spatial ability are factors that influence a driver' s ability to navigate and to use navigational displays. These factors were examined because previous research suggests that spatial ability may underlie navigational performance, including route-following and map-reading, and that these skills may diminish with age. Thus, older drivers and drivers with weak navigational skills, may have a heightened need for, and be particularly served by, in-vehicle route guidance displays found in Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS). A total of 56 drivers were tested on spatial ability. The drivers then performed a navigational task in a part-task driving simulator using different navigational aids, including: (1) text directions, (2) an enlarged, mounted paper map, (3) a standard-scale paper map, and (4) a turn-by-turn route guidance ATIS display. The major findings were that: (1) older drivers showed worse navigational performance than younger drivers, (2) the worse performance found in the older group was attributable to their lower spatial ability, (3) spatial ability predicted navigational performance, and (4) a simulated ATIS turn-by-turn display enhanced navigational performance. The implications of the results are that navigational ability declines with …