Human Sense of Direction and Wayfinding

Abstract

One of the oldest beliefs about human wayfinding is that some people have a natural ability that distinguishes them from others. In four experiments, we asked adults to rate their own sense of direction, a promising index of orientation skills despite its simplicity and reliance on self-assessment. There were small to moderate correlations between self-ratings and accuracy of pointing to imagined landmarks, accuracy of path choices during a route reversal and detour, speed at executing shortcuts, and accuracy of choices of halls within a building complex. Although we did not find consistent gender differences in actual wayfinding, effects across experiments indicate that females rated their sense of direction as worse than males. Deliberations by females may have affected the speed of some of their performances. The results suggest that self-evaluation of sense of direction is associated with evaluation of one's familiarity with features of particular environments, as well as memories of successes and failures in recent wayfinding efforts.

Key Words:

• orientation
• spatial cognition
• wayfinding

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant to Edward H. Cornell from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. We thank Dianne Hadley and Kebbie Josan for their conscientious help with testing. We thank Norman Brown and Alinda Friedman for editorial help with the manuscript. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Edward H. Cornell.

Notes

^aObtained results were statistically reliable.

^bObtained results were consistent with prediction but not statistically reliable.

^aTen participants suggested abilities that were not provided on the questionnaire. N=64 for all other mean ranks.

*p<.05 and

**p<.01, with N=64 and two-tailed significance.

*p<.05 and

**p<.01, with N=48 and 2-tailed significance.

*plt;.05 and

**p<.01, with N=80 and two-tailed significance.

*p<.05 and

**p<.01, with N=72 and two-tailed significance.