International Journal of Engineering Business
and Social Science
Vol. 1 No. 03, January-February 2023, pages: 136-146
e-ISSN: 2980-4108, p-ISSN: 2980-4272
https://ijebss.ph/index.php/ijebss
136
The Relationship Between Different Types of Learning
Environments and Individual Differences in Navigation Abilities
Mariana Dinah Charlota Lerik
1
, Thomas Dicky Hastjarjo
2
, Rini Dharmastiti
3
1
Faculty of Public Health, University of Nusa Cendana Kupang-NTT, Indonesia
2
Faculty of Psychology, University of Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta, Indonesia
3
Faculty of Engineering, University of Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta, Indonesia
E-Mail: Mdinah.lerik@staf.undana.ac.id
Submitted: 08-02-2023 Revised: 12-02-2023, Publication: 20-02-2023
Keywords
Abstract
Navigation Ability;
Types of Learning
Environments;
Walking Corsi Test;
Wayfinding task;
Learning types
The study attempted to determine the relationship between the different types of
learning environments and the performance in wayfinding tasks. The mixed analysis
was used to analyze the data. The types of learning environments were measured by the
Walking Corsi test while the wayfinding task performance was measured by the travel
time in finding the target location. The wayfinding task performance was measured
three times. Eighty-nine (89) undergraduate students aged between 18-23 years were
divided based on the types of learning environments into 3 groups, namely route
learning type (31 students), map learning type (30 students) and verbal learning type
(28 students). The results showed that there were significant differences in the travel
time to find the target location between three types of environmental learning groups F
(3.6, 172) = 11.040; p<0.01). In the first occasion, the travel time of the map learning
type group was faster than the route learning type group and the verbal learning type
group. In the second occasion to track the target location, the travel time of the map
learning type group was faster than route learning type group and the verbal learning
type group. In the third occasion, the travel time of the map and verbal instruction
learning type group were not different.
1. Introduction
People travel across one place to another every day. They who cross space are called navigators. In order to
find a way to the destination or not get lost, people need three navigation abilities. First, the ability to absorb and
process different (visual, spatial, verbal) information from the environment. Second, the ability to synthesize
different information from the environment into spatial representations or cognitive maps. Third, the ability to use
these cognitive maps to move the body efficiently to approach and achieve goals.
There are abundant studies on individual differences in navigation abilities (Schinazi et al., 2013)(Wiener et
al., 2009). Individual differences in the formation of accurate spatial representations in studies in which the
participants went around the new area by car once a week for ten weeks. Individual differences in the ability to study
the area were measured through sketch drawings of building locations and accuracy points to locations around the
area. There were participants who showed good performance consistently for ten trials and performed less
consistently for ten trials. The consistency of an increase or a decrease in the individual performance also occurs in
the connection of two routes in the fourth and subsequent trials.
137 e-ISSN: 2980-4108 p-ISSN: 2980-4272 IJEBSS
IJEBSS Vol. 1 No.03, January-February 2023, pages: 136-146
The participants involved in Ishikawa and Montello's 2006 study above were passivewhen receiving
environmental exposure (Weisberg et al., 2014). Therefore, Schinazi et al., (2013) conduct a research study that
actively exposes the environment by asking participants to walk across the environment once a week for three weeks
to see the formation of cognitive maps. Schinazi et al., (2013) find that the participants have experienced an increase
in spatial assignments about buildings along the route and have formed accurate spatial representations of the
environment.
A measurement of individual differences is challenging when a researcher wants to conduct a spatial
learning experiment in a new environment. The recent research on the route learning paradigm distinguishes three
strategies for finding a way, namely 1) allocentric place ; 2) egocentric associative sign , and 3) beacon response
(de Condappa & Wiener, 2016). Hölscher et al., (2011) mention the choice of route strategies following the
principles of cognitive economics that greatly adjust to the availability of perceptual information for tasks. Sameer &
Bhushan, (2015) mention the learning of routes and the method of loci in navigation in an unfamiliar environment in
which the route memory is better without a landmark compared to the condition of the landmark imagination.
Landmarks are important for the performance of older adults who are looking for a way (Marquez et al.,
2015). This is also supported by Lingwood et al.,(2015) who find children aged 6, 8, and 10 years experienced an
increase in learning routes with landmarks as a reference. There are two types of environment learning, namely
primary learning and secondary learning. Individuals with primary learning type which is also called route learning
move through the environment directly. Meanwhile, individuals with secondary learning type observe and study
the environment indirectly through a map and or verbal instructions.
Preliminary studies on Indonesian subjects with self-report measurements shows that Indonesian people
used the secondary learning type in a balanced way using maps and verbal instructions (Dinah Charlota Lerik et al.,
2016). The way how primary learning type and secondary learning type influence navigation skills is unidentified.
This study aims to examine differences in navigation capabilities in terms of individual environment learning types.
2. Research Method
Participant
The participants of this study were 89 engineering faculty students aged 18-2 years rom the state university
in Yogyakarta.
Measurement
1. The Walking Corsi Test.The environmental learning type test was adopted from The Walking Corsi Test
developed by Piccardi et al., (2008) as follows:
a. Primary learning: Walking Corsi Test was made in the form of a plastic base measuring 2.5 x 3 m, containing
eight squares that would form a route that could be passed by participants. Guided by a research assistant,
participants walked along the routes consisting of a minimum of three-square route to the maximum of eight-
square route on the plastic mat (Figure 1). If the participants performed correctly, they walked across the four-
square route, but if they did it wrong the participant would be corrected by the research assistant three times
at maximum until it was correct. The same procedure was carried out until the eight-square route. When the
participant managed to walk alone across the eight-square route after being taught by the assistant, the study
session ended and the participants took a break for five minutes in another room. After the break, the
participants were taken back to the room with the display of The Walking Corsi to reproduce the eight-square
route learning one more time. The score was the number square route that the participant has successfully
passed. Scores ranged from 0 - 8.