title: Single-destination navigation in a multiple-destination environment: a new "later-destination attractor" bias in route choice.
abstract: People choose different routes depending on the size of the environment. However, the size of the environment is often confounded by cognitive load. The current study investigated whether changes in route choice varied as a function of memory load while keeping the size of the environment constant. Also, a new situation was used: route choice to a single destination as a function of the location of follow-up destinations. Critically, there were two routes of equal length to the first destination. The results showed that route choice to the first destination was influenced by the locations of later destinations. This (new) "later-destination attractor" bias is the tendency to take a route to the first destination that begins in the direction of subsequent destinations even when the route to the first destination is logically independent of the locations of subsequent destinations. In Experiment 1, all destinations were visible, and the bias was seen for both second and third subsequent destinations. In Experiments 2 and 3, only the first destination was visible, and the locations of the subsequent destinations were indicated on a diagram and had to be remembered by participants. In Experiment 3, the diagrams were misaligned by 180 degrees. Route choice to the first destination was still influenced by later destinations, but only by the nearer, second destination, and the extent of the bias was reduced as memory load increased. Indications are that differences in route choice between small- and large-scale environments may be due more to cognitive load than to environmental size.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, Box 870348, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA. efu@crimson.ua.edu.
authors.forename: En
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Rutgers University, Armitage 345, Camden, NJ, 08102, USA.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bravo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, Box 870348, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA.
authors.forename: Beverly
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roskos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D065854:Spatial Navigation / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cognitive load; Later-destination attractor bias; Route choice; Route planning; Wayfinding
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Hum Learn. 1980 Jan;6(1):13-24
references.pmid: 7373242
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 2011 Aug;39(6):1042-54
references.pmid: 21472477
references.citation: J Exp Psychol. 1959 Sep;58:193-8
references.pmid: 14432252
references.citation: Eur J Neurosci. 2007 Oct;26(8):2376-90
references.pmid: 17953625
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 2000 Oct;28(7):1191-204
references.pmid: 11126941
references.citation: J Environ Psychol. 2008 Sep;28(3):232-249
references.pmid: 19325934
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 1996 May;58(4):527-39
references.pmid: 8934685
references.citation: Perception. 2003;32(7):871-86
references.pmid: 12974572
references.citation: Psychol Res. 2009 Sep;73(5):644-58
references.pmid: 18998160
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 2010 Sep;38(6):700-12
references.pmid: 20852234
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 2000 Mar;28(2):306-18
references.pmid: 10790984
references.citation: Hum Factors. 2002 Summer;44(2):248-56
references.pmid: 12452271
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 2004 Mar;32(2):260-70
references.pmid: 15190718
references.citation: Percept Psychophys. 2004 Jan;66(1):170-9
references.pmid: 15095949
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 1998 Jan;24(1):215-26
references.pmid: 9438960
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 1989 Sep;15(5):887-97
references.pmid: 2528606
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2013 Oct;39(5):1313-25
references.pmid: 23276113
references.citation: Science. 1992 Jan 31;255(5044):556-9
references.pmid: 1736359
references.citation: Child Dev. 1984 Apr;55(2):482-91
references.pmid: 6723446
references.citation: Behav Res Methods. 2007 May;39(2):175-91
references.pmid: 17695343
references.citation: Anim Cogn. 2010 Mar;13(2):273-85
references.pmid: 19653018