title: Spatial knowledge of a real school environment acquired from virtual or physical models by able-bodied children and children with physical disabilities.
abstract: In Experiment 1, 2 groups of able-bodied children were exposed to both a complex single-tier virtual environment (VE) and a physical model of a different environment. For 1 group, the VE accurately modeled a real school, and for the other group the physical model did so. In transfer testing in the real school, orientation accuracy was greater in the group exposed to the VE of the real school. In Experiment 2, children with physical disabilities explored the VE model of the real school and were tested as in the 1st experiment. Measures of orientation accuracy and map-placing were significantly better in this group than in the guessing adult control group. The results illustrate the potential for VEs as useful spatial training media.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Middlesex University, Enfield, London, United Kingdom. n.foreman@mdx.ac.uk
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Foreman
authors.forename: Danaë
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stanton
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Hester
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Duffy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D012574:Schools; D013028:Space Perception; D013037:Spatial Behavior; D014584:User-Computer Interface