Comparing Decision-Making and Control for Learning a Virtual Environment: Backseat Drivers Learn Where They are Going

A considerable amount of research has been conducted on the role interactivity, active versus passive navigation, for learning the spatial layout of a virtual environment (VE). However, active navigation is not unitary. It has two distinct components: decision-making and control. In the present work we investigated which main component of active navigation was critical for acquiring spatial knowledge of a virtual city. We found that spatial knowledge was comparable when the VE was learned with active navigation or decision-making in the absence of control, but was much worse when only control was present. These results suggest decision-making, not control, is the critical component for learning a VE.

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