Sex differences in navigation strategy and efficiency

Research on human navigation has indicated that males and females differ in self-reported navigation strategy as well as objective measures of navigation efficiency. In two experiments, we investigated sex differences in navigation strategy and efficiency using an objective measure of strategy, the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Memory & cognition Vol. 46; no. 6; pp. 909 - 922
Main Authors: Boone, Alexander P., Gong, Xinyi, Hegarty, Mary
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Springer US 01.08.2018
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Adult
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive models
Cognitive Psychology
Efficiency
Experimental psychology
Experiments
Female
Females
Gender differences
Humans
Knowledge
Male
Males
Memory
Navigation
Navigation behavior
Neurosciences
Objectives
Paradigms
Psychology
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Self report
Sex Characteristics
Sex differences
Spatial Learning - physiology
Spatial Navigation - physiology
Spatial Processing - physiology
Strategies
Usefulness
Wandering
Women
Young Adult
Strategy
Sex differences
Navigation
Efficiency
ISSN:0090-502X, 1532-5946, 1532-5946
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Research on human navigation has indicated that males and females differ in self-reported navigation strategy as well as objective measures of navigation efficiency. In two experiments, we investigated sex differences in navigation strategy and efficiency using an objective measure of strategy, the dual-solution paradigm (DSP; Marchette, Bakker, & Shelton, 2011 ). Although navigation by shortcuts and learned routes were the primary strategies used in both experiments, as in previous research on the DSP, individuals also utilized route reversals and sometimes found the goal location as a result of wandering. Importantly, sex differences were found in measures of both route selection and navigation efficiency. In particular, males were more likely to take shortcuts and reached their goal location faster than females, while females were more likely to follow learned routes and wander. Self-report measures of strategy were only weakly correlated with objective measures of strategy, casting doubt on their usefulness. This research indicates that the sex difference in navigation efficiency is large, and only partially related to an individual’s navigation strategy as measured by the dual-solution paradigm.
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ISSN:0090-502X
1532-5946
1532-5946
DOI:10.3758/s13421-018-0811-y