Place learning in virtual space III: Investigation of spatial navigation training procedures and their application to fMRI and clinical neuropsychology
Kgf. Thomas et al., Place learning in virtual space III: Investigation of spatial navigation training procedures and their application to fMRI and clinical neuropsychology, BEHAV RE ME, 33(1), 2001, pp. 21-37
This paper describes the utilization of a desktop virtual environment task,
the Computer-Generated (C-G) Arena, in the study of human spatial navigati
on. First, four experiments examined the efficacy of various training proce
dures in the C-G Arena. In Experiment 1, participants efficiently located a
hidden target after only observing the virtual environment from a fixed po
sition (placement learning). In Experiment 2, participants efficiently loca
ted a hidden target after only observing an experimenter search the virtual
environment (observational learning). In Experiment 3, participants failed
to display a latent leaning effect in the virtual environment. In Experime
nt ii, all training procedures effectively taught participants the layout o
f the virtual environment, but the observational learning procedure most ef
fectively taught participants the location of a hidden target within the en
vironment. Finally, two experiments demonstrated the application of C-G Are
na procedures to neuroimaging (Experiment 5) and neuropsychological (Experi
ment 6) investigations of human spatial navigation.