Development of Landmark Use for Navigation in Children: Effects of Age, Sex, Working Memory and Landmark Type

Overview

Journal Brain Sci

Publisher MDPI

Date 2022 Jun 24

PMID 35741661

Authors

Anne H van Hoogmoed

Joost Wegman

Danielle van den Brink

Gabriele Janzen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The use of landmarks for navigation develops throughout childhood. Here, we examined the developmental trajectory of egocentric and allocentric navigation based on landmark information in an on-screen virtual environment in 39 5-6-year-olds, 43 7-8-year-olds, and 41 9-10-year-olds. We assessed both categorical performance, indicating the notion of location changes based on the landmarks, as well as metrical performance relating to the precision of the representation of the environment. We investigated whether age, sex, spatial working memory, verbal working memory, and verbal production of left and right contributed to the development of navigation skills. In egocentric navigation, Categorical performance was already above chance at 5 years of age and was positively related to visuo-spatial working memory and the production of left/right, whereas metrical performance was only related to age. Allocentric navigation started to develop between 5 and 8 years of age and was related to sex, with boys outperforming girls. Both boys and girls seemed to rely more on directional landmark information as compared to positional landmark information. To our knowledge, this study is the first to give insight into the relative contribution of different cognitive abilities to navigation skills in school-aged children.

Citing Articles

Bilingual Spatial Cognition: Spatial Cue Use in Bilinguals and Monolinguals.

Tyborowska A, Wegman J, Janzen G Brain Sci. 2024; 14(2).

PMID: 38391709 PMC: 10887090. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14020134.

Application of Virtual Reality in Spatial Memory.

Cimadevilla J, Nori R, Piccardi L Brain Sci. 2023; 13(12).

PMID: 38137069 PMC: 10741597. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13121621.

References

Jansen-Osmann P, Fuchs P . Wayfinding behavior and spatial knowledge of adults and children in a virtual environment: The role of landmarks. Exp Psychol. 2006; 53(3):171-81. DOI: 10.1027/1618-3169.53.3.171. View

Tascon L, Di Cicco C, Piccardi L, Palmiero M, Bocchi A, Cimadevilla J . Sex Differences in Spatial Memory: Comparison of Three Tasks Using the Same Virtual Context. Brain Sci. 2021; 11(6). PMC: 8229883. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11060757. View

Levine S, Foley A, Lourenco S, Ehrlich S, Ratliff K . Sex differences in spatial cognition: advancing the conversation. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2016; 7(2):127-55. DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1380. View

Wang R, Spelke E . Human spatial representation: insights from animals. Trends Cogn Sci. 2002; 6(9):376. DOI: 10.1016/s1364-6613(02)01961-7. View

Chai X, Jacobs L . Sex differences in directional cue use in a virtual landscape. Behav Neurosci. 2009; 123(2):276-83. DOI: 10.1037/a0014722. View

van Dun C, Van Kraaij A, Wegman J, Kuipers J, Aarts E, Janzen G . Sex Differences and the Role of Gaming Experience in Spatial Cognition Performance in Primary School Children: An Exploratory Study. Brain Sci. 2021; 11(7). PMC: 8301968. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11070886. View

Baumann O, Chan E, Mattingley J . Distinct neural networks underlie encoding of categorical versus coordinate spatial relations during active navigation. Neuroimage. 2012; 60(3):1630-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.01.089. View

Lew A, Bremner J, Lefkovitch L . The development of relational landmark use in six- to twelve-month-old infants in a spatial orientation task. Child Dev. 2000; 71(5):1179-90. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.00222. View

Wallet G, Sauzeon H, Arvind Pala P, Larrue F, Zheng X, Nkaoua B . Virtual/real transfer of spatial knowledge: benefit from visual fidelity provided in a virtual environment and impact of active navigation. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2011; 14(7-8):417-23. DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2009.0187. View

10.

Fernandez-Baizan C, Arias J, Mendez M . Spatial orientation assessment in preschool children: Egocentric and allocentric frameworks. Appl Neuropsychol Child. 2019; 10(2):171-193. DOI: 10.1080/21622965.2019.1630278. View

11.

Chai X, Jacobs L . Effects of cue types on sex differences in human spatial memory. Behav Brain Res. 2009; 208(2):336-42. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2009.11.039. View

12.

Pine D, Grun J, Maguire E, Burgess N, Zarahn E, Koda V . Neurodevelopmental aspects of spatial navigation: a virtual reality fMRI study. Neuroimage. 2002; 15(2):396-406. DOI: 10.1006/nimg.2001.0988. View

13.

Jansen-Osmann P . Use of virtual environments to investigate development of spatial behavior and spatial knowledge of school-age children. Psychol Rep. 2007; 100(2):675-90. DOI: 10.2466/pr0.100.2.675-690. View

14.

Smith A, Gilchrist I, Cater K, Ikram N, Nott K, Hood B . Reorientation in the real world: the development of landmark use and integration in a natural environment. Cognition. 2007; 107(3):1102-11. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2007.10.008. View

15.

Nardini M, Atkinson J, Burgess N . Children reorient using the left/right sense of coloured landmarks at 18-24 months. Cognition. 2007; 106(1):519-27. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2007.02.007. View

16.

Learmonth A, Newcombe N, Sheridan N, Jones M . Why size counts: children's spatial reorientation in large and small enclosures. Dev Sci. 2008; 11(3):414-26. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00686.x. View

17.

Lew A, Foster K, Bremner J, Slavin S, Green M . Detection of geometric, but not topological, spatial transformations in 6- to 12-month-old infants in a visual exploration paradigm. Dev Psychobiol. 2005; 47(1):31-42. DOI: 10.1002/dev.20075. View

18.

Astur R, Tropp J, Sava S, Constable R, Markus E . Sex differences and correlations in a virtual Morris water task, a virtual radial arm maze, and mental rotation. Behav Brain Res. 2004; 151(1-2):103-15. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2003.08.024. View

19.

Meilinger T, Knauff M, Bulthoff H . Working memory in wayfinding-a dual task experiment in a virtual city. Cogn Sci. 2011; 32(4):755-70. DOI: 10.1080/03640210802067004. View

20.

Newcombe N . Navigation and the developing brain. J Exp Biol. 2019; 222(Pt Suppl 1). DOI: 10.1242/jeb.186460. View