Loading…

Factors related to sex differences in navigating a computerized maze

The aim of this study was to compare computerized maze navigation performance and strategy by sex, and to investigate the relationships between navigation variables and self-reported experiential or personality dimensions. Participants used a joystick to explore a maze and were told to learn the lay...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of environmental psychology 2015-09, Vol.43, p.136-144
Main Authors: Nowak, Nicole T., Murali, Anjana, Driscoll, Ira
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The aim of this study was to compare computerized maze navigation performance and strategy by sex, and to investigate the relationships between navigation variables and self-reported experiential or personality dimensions. Participants used a joystick to explore a maze and were told to learn the layout of the maze as well as the locations of six objects within the maze. Men outperformed women, but some of the sex differences decreased in magnitude when we accounted for video game experience. Men were more likely than women to report strategies consistent with using an allocentric perspective to solve the maze, whereas women were more likely than men to report strategies consistent with an egocentric approach. We report several factors associated with successful navigation in a computerized maze, some of which relate to real life navigation and may contribute to the sex differences often reported for measures of spatial cognition. •We present navigation accuracy and strategy data by sex from a novel computerized maze.•Effect sizes of male advantage on maze navigation performance were large.•Sexes differed in experiential factors such as video game play and spatial anxiety.•Computerized maze performance outcomes were correlated with spatial anxiety in women.
ISSN:0272-4944
1522-9610
DOI:10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.06.007