Successful navigation: the influence of task goals and working memory.

There is still a need to analyze the factors that enhance navigation accuracy. This study aims to examine how success in environment learning relates to task goals and WM. A total of 90 undergraduates (46 females) learned a route from a virtual navigation experience after being given a goal that involved tracing the route (a route-based goal) or finding a shortcut (a survey-based goal). The two groups thus formed were each divided into three subgroups according to the dual-task paradigm: one only navigated (control condition); the other two did so while simultaneously performing a visuo-spatial or verbal secondary task. Afterwards, participants traced the previously seen route and found a shortcut. Several visuo-spatial and verbal WM tasks were also administered. The results showed that participants given a route-based goal performed better in the route-tracing task; and those given a survey-based goal were better at finding shortcuts. An influence of WM was also shown: higher WM (visuo-spatial and verbal) ability significantly reduced the number of route-tracing errors made while performing a secondary visuo-spatial task, regardless of the goal, whereas no such effects emerged for shortcut finding. These results offer new insight on how task goals and WM support successful navigation.

Spatial text processing: are estimates of time and distance influenced by the age of characters and readers?

It is widely accepted that, while hearing or reading a story, people continuously form and update mental representations of the characters, places and events being described, based on plausible spatial, temporal or intentional details. According to the embodied cognition approach, the mental representations that accompany text reading are grounded in each reader's own sensorimotor experiences. Two experiments were conducted to examine whether readers' estimates of time and distance are influenced by age, their own and that of the character being described. In Experiment 1, 182 young adults read the description of a route in a town being covered by a young or an elderly character. In Experiment 2, the same descriptions as in Experiment 1 were read by 121 young adults and 53 older people. To avoid a possible confound, a follow-up to Experiment 1 (Experiment 1a) repeated the study by removing from texts the adverbs describing the walking speed of characters. In all experiments, participants were asked to estimate: (a) the time the characters took to reach their destinations (time estimation task); and (b) the distance they covered (distance estimation task). The results showed that both characters' and readers' ages influenced the time estimated, whereas no effects were found on estimates of distance: the elderly character was estimated to take longer than the young character (Experiments 1, 1a and 2), and older readers estimated longer times than younger readers (Experiment 2). This prompts the conclusion that personal features of both the readers and the characters they read about were used to infer the temporal dimension of situations described in the narratives. The theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Ageing- and dementia-friendly design: theory and evidence from cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and environmental psychology can contribute to design guidelines that minimise spatial disorientation.

Many older people, both with and without dementia, eventually move from their familiar home environments into unfamiliar surroundings, such as sheltered housing or care homes. Age-related declines in wayfinding skills can make it difficult to learn to navigate in these new, unfamiliar environments. To facilitate the transition to their new accommodation, it is therefore important to develop retirement complexes and care homes specifically designed to reduce the wayfinding difficulties of older people and those with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Residential complexes that are designed to support spatial orientation and that compensate for impaired navigation abilities would make it easier for people with dementia to adapt to their new living environment. This would improve the independence, quality of life and well-being of residents, and reduce the caregivers' workload. Based on these premises, this opinion paper considers how evidence from cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and environmental psychology can contribute to ageing- and dementia-friendly design with a view to minimising spatial disorientation. After an introduction of the cognitive mechanisms and processes involved in spatial navigation, and the changes that occur in typical and atypical ageing, research from the field of environmental psychology is considered, highlighting design factors likely to facilitate (or impair) indoor wayfinding in complex buildings. Finally, psychological theories and design knowledge are combined to suggest ageing- and dementia-friendly design guidelines that aim to minimise spatial disorientation by focusing on residual navigation skills.

How to enhance route learning and visuo-spatial working memory in aging: a training for residential care home residents.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the efficacy of a route-learning training in a group of older adults living in a residential care home. We verified the presence of training-specific effects in tasks similar to those trained - route-learning tasks - as well as transfer effects on related cognitive processes - visuo-spatial short-term memory (VSSTM; Corsi Blocks Test (CBT), forward version), visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM; CBT, backward version; Pathway Span Tasks; Jigsaw Puzzle Test) - and in self-report measures. The maintenance of training benefits was examined after 3 months. METHOD: Thirty 70-90-year-old residential care home residents were randomly assigned to the route-learning training group or to an active control group (involved in non-visuo-spatial activities). RESULTS: The trained group performed better than the control group in the route-learning tasks, retaining this benefit 3 months later. Immediate transfer effects were also seen in visuo-spatial span tasks (i.e., CBT forward and backward version and Pathway Span Task); these benefits had been substantially maintained at the 3-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that a training on route learning is a promising approach to sustain older adults' environmental learning and some related abilities (e.g., VSSTM and VSWM), even in residential care home residents.

Visual Perceptual Organization Ability in Autopsy-Verified Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Alzheimer's Disease.

OBJECTIVES: Prominent impairment of visuospatial processing is a feature of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and diagnosis of this impairment may help clinically distinguish DLB from Alzheimer's disease (AD). The current study compared autopsy-confirmed DLB and AD patients on the Hooper Visual Organization Test (VOT), a test that requires perceptual and mental reorganization of parts of an object into an identifiable whole. The VOT may be particularly sensitive to DLB since it involves integration of visual information processed in separate dorsal and ventral visual "streams". METHODS: Demographically similar DLB (n=28), AD (n=115), and normal control (NC; n=85) participants were compared on the VOT and additional neuropsychological tests. Patient groups did not differ in dementia severity at time of VOT testing. High and Low AD-Braak stage DLB subgroups were compared to examine the influence of concomitant AD pathology on VOT performance. RESULTS: Both patient groups were impaired compared to NC participants. VOT scores of DLB patients were significantly lower than those of AD patients. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the VOT for patients versus controls was good, but marginal for DLB versus AD. High-Braak and low-Braak DLB patients did not differ on the VOT, but High-Braak DLB performed worse than Low-Braak DLB on tests of episodic memory and language. CONCLUSIONS: Visual perceptual organization ability is more impaired in DLB than AD but not strongly diagnostic. The disproportionate severity of this visual perceptual deficit in DLB is not related to degree of concomitant AD pathology, which suggests that it might primarily reflect Lewy body pathology. (JINS, 2016, 22, 609-619).

Mental rotation training: transfer and maintenance effects on spatial abilities.

One of the aims of research in spatial cognition is to examine whether spatial skills can be enhanced. The goal of the present study was thus to assess the benefit and maintenance effects of mental rotation training in young adults. Forty-eight females took part in the study: 16 were randomly assigned to receive the mental rotation training (based on comparing pairs of 2D or 3D objects and rotation games), 16 served as active controls (performing parallel non-spatial activities), and 16 as passive controls. Transfer effects to both untrained spatial tasks (testing both object rotation and perspective taking) and visual and verbal tasks were examined. Across the training sessions, the group given mental rotation training revealed benefits in the time it took to make judgments when comparing 3D and 2D objects, but their mental rotation speed did not improve. When compared with the other groups, the mental rotation training group did show transfer effects, however, in tasks other than those practiced (i.e., in object rotation and perspective-taking tasks), and these benefits persisted after 1 month. The training had no effect on visual or verbal tasks. These findings are discussed from the spatial cognition standpoint and with reference to the (rotation) training literature.

Mental representations derived from spatial descriptions: the influence of orientation specificity and visuospatial abilities.

This study aimed to investigate the orientation dependence effect and the role of visuospatial abilities in mental representations derived from spatial descriptions. The analysis focused on how the orientation effect and the involvement of visuospatial abilities change when survey and route descriptions are used, and the initial and main orientation of an imaginary tour. In Experiment 1, 48 participants listened to survey or route descriptions in which information was mainly north-oriented (matching the initial heading and main direction of travel expressed in the description). In Experiment 2, 40 participants listened to route descriptions in which the initial orientation (north-oriented) was mismatched with the main direction of travel (east-oriented). Participants performed pointing task while facing north vs south (Exp. 1 and 2), and while facing east vs west (Exp. 2), as well as a map drawing task and several visuospatial measures. In both experiments, the results showed that pointing was easier while facing north than while facing south, and map drawings were arranged with a north-up orientation (with no difference between survey and route descriptions). In Experiment 2, pointing while facing east was easier than in the other pointing conditions. The results obtained with the visuospatial tasks showed that perspective-taking (PT) skill was the main predictor of the ability to imagine positions misaligned with the direction expressed in the descriptions (i.e., pointing while facing south in Experiment 1; pointing while facing north, south or west in Experiment 2). Overall, these findings indicate that mental representations derived from spatial descriptions are specifically oriented and their orientation is influenced by the main direction of travel and by the initial orientation. These mental representations, and the adoption of counter-aligned imaginary orientations, demand visuospatial skills and PT ability in particular.

Relationship between spatial ability, visuospatial working memory and self-assessed spatial orientation ability: a study in older adults.

This paper describes some novel spatial tasks and questionnaires designed to assess spatial and orientation abilities. The new tasks and questionnaires were administered to a sample of 90 older adults (41 males, age range 57-90), along with some other tests of spatial ability (Minnesota Paper Form Board, Mental Rotations Test, and Embedded Figures Test) and tests of visuospatial working memory (Corsi's Block Test and Visual Pattern Test). The internal reliability of the new tasks and questionnaires was analyzed, as well as their relationship with the spatial and working memory tests. The results showed that the new spatial tasks are reliable, correlate with working memory and spatial ability tests and, compared with the latters, show stronger correlations with the self-report questionnaires referring to orientation abilities. A model was also tested (with reference to Allen et al. in Intelligence 22:327-355, 1996) in which the new tasks were assumed to relate to spatial ability and predict orientation abilities as assessed by the self-report measures.

Cognitive styles and mental rotation ability in map learning.

In inspecting, learning and reproducing a map, a wide range of abilities is potentially involved. This study examined the role of mental rotation (MR) and verbal ability, together with that of cognitive styles in map learning. As regards cognitive styles, the traditional distinction between verbalizers and visualizers has been taken into account, together with a more recent distinction between two styles of visualization: spatial and object. One hundred and seven participants filled in two questionnaires on cognitive styles: the Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire (Richardson in J Ment Imag 1:109-125, 1977) and the Object-Spatial Imagery Questionnaire (Blajenkova et al. in Appl Cogn Psych 20:239-263, 2006), performed MR and verbal tests, learned two maps, and were then tested for their recall. It was found that MR ability and cognitive styles played a role in predicting map learning, with some distinctions within cognitive styles: verbal style favoured learning of one of the two maps (the one rich in verbal labels), which in turn was disadvantaged by the adoption of spatial style. Conversely, spatial style predicted learning of the other map, rich in visual features. The discussion focuses on implications for cognitive psychology and everyday cognition.

Trajectories across the healthy adult lifespan on sense of direction, spatial anxiety, and attitude in exploring places.

Introduction: Self-evaluations about orientation and navigation in the environment contribute to individual differences in spatial cognition. Evidence suggests that they may change, even slightly, with the progression of adulthood. It is necessary to improve the framing of environment-related subjective self-evaluations in adulthood and aging by examining how they change and the factors related to them. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the developmental trajectories of sense of direction, spatial anxiety, and attitude in exploring place across the adult lifespan while also considering gender and education. Materials and methods: A sample of 1,946 participants (1,068 women), aged 18-87 years, completed the sense of direction and spatial representation, spatial anxiety, and attitude in exploring scales. Results: The regression models showed a linear increase in sense of direction with age, stable spatial anxiety until age 66 years when anxiety began increasing, and a stable attitude in exploring with a deflection by age 71 years. Gender played a role in all three types of self-evaluations, with men reporting higher ratings in sense of direction and attitude toward exploring (especially in older men), and lower levels of spatial anxiety than women did. Education also played a role, with higher education years associated with lower ratings in spatial anxiety and a higher sense of direction, nullifying gender differences in the latter. Discussion: These results offer, in the spatial cognition framework, a better understanding of how specific environment-related self-evaluations develop with age and related factors, such as education. This underscores the importance of enhancing them, particularly in women and older adults.

Men's and women's egocentric and allocentric knowledge: The involvement of mental rotation ability and spatial beliefs.

Individual factors can play a relevant role in explaining gender differences in environmental learning in terms of visuospatial abilities and beliefs about spatial abilities, such as stereotypes and growth mindset about navigation ability. In this study, we aim to investigate how mental rotation ability and spatial beliefs interact in the acquisition of egocentric and allocentric spatial knowledge. A sample of 244 participants (140 women) completed individual difference measures, including a mental rotation test (MRT) and questionnaires on gender stereotypes and growth mindsets about navigation ability. Participants then learned a specific route in a virtual environment and performed an egocentric pointing task and an allocentric pointing task. Men performed better in mental rotation and egocentric pointing tasks. Moreover, mental rotation ability predicted both egocentric and allocentric pointing performance; growth mindset predicted allocentric pointing. In general, these results suggest that, despite gender differences in some spatial measures, cognitive abilities and beliefs contribute to supporting environmental knowledge in both men and women.

Navigability of Residential Care Homes From Residents', Family Members', and Staff's Points of View: The Residential Care Home Navigability Scale.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Navigational skills display clear signs of decline with increasing age, especially in pathological aging. Therefore, navigability-the extent to which destinations can be reached with reasonable effort and time-should be considered in residential care home design. We aimed to develop a scale assessing environmental features (i.e., indoor visual differentiation, signage, and layout) for navigability in residential care homes: the Residential Care Home Navigability (RCHN) scale. To this end, we examined whether navigability and its factors were associated with a sense of direction within the residential care homes to different degrees for older adult residents, caregivers, and staff. The relationship between navigability and residential satisfaction was also considered. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A sample of 523 participants (230 residents, 126 family caregivers, and 167 staff members) responded to the RCHN, assessed their sense of orientation and general satisfaction, and performed a pointing task. RESULTS: Results confirmed the RCHN scale's 3-level factor structure, good reliability, and validity. A subjective sense of direction, but not pointing task performance, was associated with navigability and its factors. In particular, visual differentiation is positively associated with a sense of direction regardless of group, whereas signage and layout contributed to a better experience of a sense of direction, especially among older residents. Navigability was not related to residents' satisfaction. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Navigability supports perceived orientation in residential care homes, especially for older residents. Moreover, the RCHN is a reliable tool for the assessment of RCHN, with important implications for minimizing spatial disorientation through environmental interventions.

Investigating the different domains of environmental knowledge acquired from virtual navigation and their relationship to cognitive factors and wayfinding inclinations.

When learning an environment from virtual navigation people gain knowledge about landmarks, their locations, and the paths that connect them. The present study newly aimed to investigate all these domains of knowledge and how cognitive factors such as visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations might support virtual passive navigation. A total of 270 participants (145 women) were tested online. They: (i) completed visuospatial tasks and answered questionnaires on their wayfinding inclinations; and (ii) learnt a virtual path. The environmental knowledge they gained was assessed on their free recall of landmarks, their egocentric and allocentric pointing accuracy (location knowledge), and their performance in route direction and landmark location tasks (path knowledge). Visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations emerged as two separate factors, and environmental knowledge as a single factor. The SEM model showed that both visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations support the environmental knowledge factor, with similar pattern of relationships in men and women. Overall, factors related to the individual are relevant to the environmental knowledge gained from an online virtual passive navigation.

The influence of individual characteristics on perceived restorativeness and benefits associated with exposure to nature in a garden.

This study newly explored the relationship between individual characteristics (i.e., connectedness to nature, a preference for natural rather than built environments, personality, visuospatial preferences) with perceived restorativeness, as well as affective and memory-related benefits of exposure to the nature. Eighty adults were individually exposed to nature by walking in a landscape garden. Measures of connectedness to nature, preference for natural environments, personality traits, and visuospatial preferences were administered. Before and after walking in the garden, participants completed measures of affect (positive and negative emotions) and memory (short-term and working memory, and spatial memory). After walking they completed a Perceived Restorativeness scale. Perceived Restorativeness was found to be significantly explained by Extraversion (personality trait) and Connectedness to Nature. There was no significant influence of individual characteristics on benefits to affect and memory measures. Overall, the results showed that perception of the restorative effect of a natural environment is related to connectedness to nature and personality (extraversion trait). Taken together, our findings highlight the importance of considering individual characteristics to better capture restorative/recovery effects of a natural environment in an individual, and to tailor/implement nature-based solutions to ensure a sustainable urban green environment and to promote quality of life for their citizens.

Psychological Reactions during and after a Lockdown: Self-Efficacy as a Protective Factor of Mental Health.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of home confinement/social isolation (i.e., lockdown), imposed to reduce large-scale spread of a disease in the population, on the mental health of individuals. Through an online survey during the lockdown (DL) related to COVID-19 (1085 respondents, 627 females, agerange: 18-82) (Italy, 23 April-2 May 2020), we revealed that situational factors, i.e., the presence of children at home and female gender, and psychological factors, i.e., a greater sense of isolation, lower perception of safety outside the home and higher trait anxiety, predicted higher levels of state anxiety (R2 = 0.58). The same factors, but with young age instead of the presence of children, predicted higher levels of perceived stress (R2 = 0.63). Then, these data were compared with those collected after the lockdown (AL) (174 respondents, 128 females, agerange: 19-78) (Italy, 1 July-31 October 2021). The results showed that along with a reduced sense of isolation (DL = 2.90 vs. AL = 2.10) and an increased perception of safety outside the home (DL = 2.63 vs. AL = 3.05), a reduction in state anxiety (DL = 45.76 vs. AL= 40.88) and stress appeared (DL = 18.84 vs. AL = 17.63). However, the situation was better for men than for women. Perceived self-efficacy emerged as a protective factor for mental health (R2range: 0.03-0.27). The results are discussed in light of the evidence on the effects of lockdown on individuals worldwide. These results may be used to make more educated decisions on targeted help for individuals who may be most adversely affected by the adoption of lockdowns in the future.

Psychological impacts of intervention to improve a therapeutic garden for older adults with dementia: a case study conducted at a care facility.

Introduction: Exposure to nature is known to support psychological wellbeing, and can support People with Dementia (PwD). Here we describe a case study conducted at a care facility for PwD to examine the effect of their exposure to nature after intervention to renovate an existing Therapeutic Garden (TG). Changes in frequency of attendance and behavior in the TG were examined. A single case was also considered to assess individual benefits. Materials and methods: Twenty-one PwD participated in the study. Their behavior in the TG was observed for 4 weeks before and after the intervention (using behavioral mapping), and measures of individual characteristics (general cognitive functioning, behavioral/neuropsychiatric symptoms, depression, and quality of life) were administered. Results: Ten of the 21 PwD visited the TG more often after the intervention, their social behaviors (e.g., talking to others) increased, and their active isolated behavior in the garden (e.g., smelling, touching flowers) tended to increase. The increase in social behavior related to less severe baseline depressive symptoms. Passive isolated behaviors related to more impaired baseline cognitive functioning. The case of Mrs. A extended the findings for the whole sample: although her dementia symptoms (apathy, motor disturbances) worsened, she visited the TG more often after the intervention, her social exchanges and active isolated actions increased, and her agitation and wandering decreased. Discussion: These results support the benefits of exposure to nature for PwD, and underscore the importance of considering users' profiles to optimize their use of a TG.

Effects of an outdoor horticultural activities program on cognitive and behavioral functioning, mood, and perceived quality of life in people with dementia: a pilot study.

Introduction: One of various non-pharmacological treatments for people with dementia (PwD) is horticultural therapy. The aim of this double-blind, pre- and post-test, pilot study was to examine the effects of horticultural activities (HA) for PwD at a residential and daytime care facility. Whether combining HA with elements drawn from other psychosocial interventions (cognitive stimulation) would maximize any benefits was also newly examined. Materials and methods: Twenty-four PwD were involved either in HA, alone (TG1, N = 7) or combined with some cognitive stimulation (TG2, N = 8), or in indoor treatment-as-usual activities (CG, N = 9). Benefits were assessed in terms of general cognitive functioning (for participants with mild-to-moderate dementia), mood, behavioral and psychological symptoms, and quality of life. Results: No differences emerged between TG1 and TG2 in any outcome measure, so the two groups were combined (N = 15). Compared with the CG, the TG involved in HA exhibited less frequent and severe behavioral and psychological symptoms and an improved mood after the intervention. Caregivers also reported less distress in the TG after the intervention than in the CG. Considering only PwD with mild-to-moderate dementia, the TG also showed benefits in a measure of general cognitive functioning, and self-reported quality of life, compared with the CG. Discussion: Our results further confirm that engaging PwD in participatory HA in contact with natural elements can decrease their dementia symptoms and their caregivers' distress, but also increase PwD's quality of life. Our findings also suggest the need to consider dementia severity when assessing the benefits of horticultural therapy.

Which spatial abilities and strategies predict males' and females' performance in the object perspective test?

The present study aimed to investigate whether different spatial abilities and strategies sustain perspective-taking (PT) performance in males and females. The PT task used was the Object Perspective Test (OPT, Kozhevnikov and Hegarty in Mem Cogn 29:745-756, 2001; Hegarty and Waller in Intelligence 32:175-191, 2004). A sample of 40 males and 40 females completed the OPT and several other visuo-spatial tasks and questionnaires. Multiple regression analysis showed that OPT performance was predicted positively by a spatial imagery preference and negatively by the specific use of mental rotation strategy (i.e. turning the sheet of paper). Gender interacted with the Embedded Figure Test (EFT), a spatial visualization task, since high EFT scores only positively predicted the OPT results in males. Overall, our results show that OPT performance is sustained by specific spatial abilities and strategies modulated, at least in part, by gender.

Lessons in a Green School Environment and in the Classroom: Effects on Students' Cognitive Functioning and Affect.

The positive impact of short-term exposure to nature during a green recess in a school day is documented in the literature. In this study we investigated cognitive, academic, and affective effects of a single contact with nature during a regular school lesson in the greenness, compared to an usual classroom lesson, on young students in second and third grades (N = 65). In a within-subjects design, for the cognitive effects we examined children's (a) selective and sustained attention and (b) math calculation performance in common school tasks. For affective effects we considered (c) their positive and negative mood and (d) the perception of environmental restorativeness. Findings revealed that after a single lesson taught in the green school garden, children had greater selective attention and math calculation performance in two tasks than after a similar lesson in the classroom environment. Moreover, children with higher self-reported emotional difficulties showed greater selective attention and reported a statistically significant increase in positive affect and a tendency to a significant decrease in negative affect after the lesson in the greenness than in the classroom. Students also perceived the green space as more restorative than the classroom environment. Results are discussed against theories on the benefits of exposure to natural environments, highlighting the theoretical and practical significance of the study.

Orientation Experiences and Navigation Aid Use: A Self-Report Lifespan Study on the Role of Age and Visuospatial Factors.

Spatial orientation is essential for daily life, but it deteriorates with aging. The present study was aimed at investigating age changes across the adult lifespan in the self-reported use of navigation aids and everyday orientation experiences, as well as investigating to what extent these are related to visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and self-reported wayfinding inclinations. A sample of 456 people aged 25-84 years rated how much they use navigation aids (maps, GPS, verbal directions), how much they went out, and how much they reached or lost their way to unfamiliar destinations (in 2016). Then, they performed the jigsaw puzzle test (VSWM) and questionnaires on sense of direction, pleasure in exploring, and spatial anxiety. The results showed that increasing age is related to a lower tendency to go out, fewer experiences of finding one's way and getting lost, a lower level of GPS use, and increased verbal directions use. After age changes were accounted for, VSWM was related to aid use and orientation experiences (except for losing one's way), wayfinding inclinations (especially spatial anxiety) to using a map, and orientation experiences. Overall, other than age, VSWM and one's wayfinding attitudes can play a role-albeit it a modest one-in spatial behaviors.