Optimal navigation strategies might differ in different environments. In a closed environment (such as a corridor in a building) local cues at junctions would be best to learn a route. In an open environment distal cues allow a person to gain overall orientation, essential for identifying shortcuts and new paths. A lack of flexibility in strategy use will result in poor performance when navigating a varied environment. The aim of the current study is to examine how best to elicit flexible use of navigational strategies using a synchronous intervention shown to enhance prosocial behaviour. Sixty-eight undergraduate psychology students were trained to navigate a route through a virtual environment which contained both distal and local cues. They were tested from a novel start position to see if they used local or distal cues. Next participants were exposed to either a synchronous or asynchronous intervention where the experimenter moved either in or out of harmony with the participant. Before returning to the maze, participants were told the benefit of either their original cue-type or the alternative. When participants where re-tested in the maze, those in the synchronous group informed of the alternative cue-type switched more than those in the asynchronous group. This result of enabling more flexible navigation is crucial to the goal of improving spatial skills and the study demonstrates a novel use of synchrony in a spatial task to achieve this aim.

最佳导航策略在不同的环境中可能会有所不同。在封闭的环境中（例如建筑物中的走廊），路口的当地线索最好是学习路线。在开放的环境中，远端线索使人能够获得整体方向，这对于识别捷径和新路径至关重要。策略使用缺乏灵活性将导致在不同环境中导航时表现不佳。本研究的目的是研究如何最好地使用同步干预来灵活使用导航策略，以增强亲社会行为。68 名心理学本科生接受了培训，通过包含远端和本地线索的虚拟环境导航路线。他们从一个新的开始位置进行测试，看看他们是否使用了局部或远端线索。接下来的参与者被暴露于同步或异步干预，其中实验者与参与者和谐或不和谐。在返回迷宫之前，参与者被告知他们的原始线索类型或替代线索类型的好处。当参与者在迷宫中重新测试时，同步组中通知替代线索类型的参与者比异步组中的参与者切换得更多。这种实现更灵活导航的结果对于提高空间技能的目标至关重要，该研究展示了在空间任务中使用同步来实现这一目标的新方法。参与者被告知他们原始线索类型或替代线索类型的好处。当参与者在迷宫中重新测试时，同步组中通知替代线索类型的参与者比异步组中的参与者切换得更多。这种实现更灵活导航的结果对于提高空间技能的目标至关重要，该研究展示了在空间任务中使用同步来实现这一目标的新方法。参与者被告知他们原始线索类型或替代线索类型的好处。当参与者在迷宫中重新测试时，同步组中通知替代线索类型的参与者比异步组中的参与者切换得更多。这种实现更灵活导航的结果对于提高空间技能的目标至关重要，该研究展示了在空间任务中使用同步来实现这一目标的新方法。