ABSTRACT

How does gesturing during route learning relate to subsequent spatial performance? We examined the relationship between gestures produced spontaneously while studying route directions and spatial representations of the navigated environment. Participants studied route directions, then navigated those routes from memory in a virtual environment, and finally had their memory of the environment assessed. We found that, for navigators with low spatial perspective-taking performance on the Spatial Orientation Test, more gesturing from a survey perspective predicted more accurate memory following navigation. Thus, co-thought gestures accompanying route learning relate to performance selectively, depending on the gesturers’ spatial ability and the perspective of their gestures. Survey gestures may help some individuals visualize an overall route that they can retain in memory.

摘要

路线学习过程中的手势与随后的空间表现有何关系？我们在研究路线方向和导航环境的空间表示时，检查了自发产生的手势之间的关系。参与者研究了路线方向，然后在虚拟环境中从内存中导航了这些路线，最后评估了他们对环境的记忆。我们发现，对于在空间定向测试中具有较低的空间透视获取性能的导航器，从调查的角度来看更多的手势可以预测导航后的准确记忆。因此，伴随路线学习的共同思考手势取决于手势者的空间能力及其手势的视角，选择性地涉及性能。