| Description |
Decades of research have attempted to establish factor structures for small-scale spatial abilities and larger-scale, navigation-based spatial abilities, such as spatial memory for landmarks during navigation. Findings suggest that small-scale abilities, such as mental rotation of 2-D objects, predict spatial memory for landmarks. Additionally, in hunter-gatherer populations and in a few industrialized samples, increased home range (a measure of mobility) relates to better small-scale spatial abilities. Mobility can be defined as an individual's tendency to range from home on both small- and large-scales, including frequency and method of travel. Despite the fact that the imagined transformations implemented when navigating in the world are used and likely honed when navigating, mobility has not been implemented into models of individual differences in spatial abilities to our knowledge. The current study validates a novel self-report measure of mobility using established laboratory measures of spatial ability, as well as integrates mobility into a theoretical model of spatial abilities. We planned to test a theoretical model of mobility resulting in increased small-scale spatial abilities (mental rotation & perspective taking), leading to increased visual learning ability for novel environments using a virtual environment laboratory task. However, no direct effects of mobility were found on small-scale spatial ability or visual learning ability during validation of self-reported travel frequency, a key aspect of mobility. Instead, we tested a model featuring a proxy of how one navigates when mobile - self-reported GPS-use - in place of frequency and distance traveled. We found that small-scale mental rotation and perspective taking ability mediates the direct effect of GPS-use on visual learning ability. In other words, lesser self-reported GPS-use is associated with increased mental rotation performance (a dynamic intrinsic small-scale spatial ability), which is, in turn, associated with better perspective taking ability. Both of these spatial abilities relate to better visual learning ability. Specifically, these two small-scale spatial abilities completely accounted for a direct effect of GPS-use on visual learning, suggesting full mediation. Implications for research related to spatial abilities and navigation are discussed. We also discuss implications for the self-reported measure of mobility and future research on mobility. |
