The attribution of success when using navigation aids.
Attitudes towards geographic information technology is a seldom explored research area that can be explained with reference to established theories of attribution. This article reports on a study of how the attribution of success and failure in pedestrian navigation varies with level of automation, degree of success and locus of control. A total of 113 participants took part in a survey exploring reflections on personal experiences and vignettes describing fictional navigation experiences. A complex relationship was discovered in which success tends to be attributed to skill and failure to the navigation aid when participants describe their own experiences. A reversed pattern of results was found when discussing the navigation of others. It was also found that navigation success and failure are associated with personal skill to a greater extent when using paper maps, as compared with web-based routing engines or satellite navigation systems.
This article explores the influences on the attribution of success and failure when using navigation aids. A survey was performed exploring interpretations of navigation experiences. Level of success, self or other as navigator and type of navigation aid used are all found to influence the attribution of outcomes to internal or external factors.
a Horizon Digital Economy Research, University of Nottingham , C01, Nottingham Geospatial Building, Nottingham NG7 2TU , UK.
Michael
M
Brown
Robert
R
Houghton
Sarah
S
Sharples
Jeremy
J
Morley
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D001331:Automation; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
attitudes and behaviour; attribution; human factors; personal navigation; trust in automation