Spatial skills

Cimadevilla, José Manuel; Piccardi, Laura

doi:10.1016/b978-0-444-64123-6.00006-0

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 135 publications

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“…A second limitation may be the decision to select only men and not women pilots in the study. Gender differences in visuospatial abilities are well described (i.e., [72]), and such differences do not emerge in the pilot group (e.g., [28,53]), in which men and women perform visuospatial tasks equally well. This decision was made because the number of women in the Italian Air Force is still small and the final sample would have been strongly unbalanced by gender.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Advanced Spatial Strategies Depend on the Number of Flight Hours? The Case of Military Pilots

Giancola

Verde²,

Cacciapuoti³

et al. 2021

Brain Sciences

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Background: Military pilots show advanced visuospatial skills. Previous studies demonstrate that they are better at mentally rotating a target, taking different perspectives, estimating distances and planning travel and have a topographic memory. Here, we compared navigational cognitive styles between military pilots and people without flight experience. Pilots were expected to be more survey-style users than nonpilots, showing more advanced navigational strategies. Method: A total of 106 military jet pilots from the Italian Air Force and 92 nonpilots from the general population matched for education with the pilots were enrolled to investigate group differences in navigational styles. The participants were asked to perform a reduced version of the Spatial Cognitive Style Test (SCST), consisting of six tasks that allow us to distinguish individuals in terms of landmark (people orient themselves by using a figurative memory for environmental objects), route (people use an egocentric representation of the space) and survey (people have a map-like representation of the space) user styles. Results: In line with our hypothesis, military pilots mainly adopt the survey style, whereas nonpilots mainly adopt the route style. In addition, pilots outperformed nonpilots in both the 3D Rotation Task and Map Description Task. Conclusions: Military flight expertise influences some aspects of spatial ability, leading to enhanced human navigation. However, it must be considered that they are a population whose navigational skills were already high at the time of selection at the academy before formal training began.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Advanced Spatial Strategies Depend on the Number of Flight Hours? The Case of Military Pilots

Giancola

Verde²,

Cacciapuoti³

et al. 2021

Brain Sciences

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“…Moreover, several cognitive abilities influence the navigation ones, including long-term memory [ 17 ], executive functions [ 18 , 19 ], precision in encoding multisensory experiences, and the ability to form mental representations to guide behavior [ 20 ]. Every mobile species needs to navigate the environment to perform functions that involve processes such as perception, learning, memory, and reasoning [ 13 , 14 , 21 ]. Human navigation abilities largely vary across individuals, change with age, and gradually develop in time [ 15 , 22 , 23 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Could an Immersive Virtual Reality Training Improve Navigation Skills in Children with Cerebral Palsy? A Pilot Controlled Study

Nossa

Gagliardi

Panzeri

et al. 2022

JCM

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Children with cerebral palsy (CP) suffer deficits in their motor, sensory, and cognitive abilities, as well as in their visuospatial competences. In the last years, several authors have tried to correlate the visuospatial abilities with the navigational ones. Given their importance in everyday functions, navigation skills have been deeply studied using increasingly cutting-edge techniques such as virtual reality (VR). However, to our knowledge, there are no studies focused on training using immersive VR (IVR) in children with movement disorders. For this reason, we proposed an IVR training to 35 young participants with CP and conceived to improve their navigation skills in a “simil-real” environment while playing on a dynamic platform. A subgroup performed a part of the training which was specifically dedicated to the use of the allocentric strategy (i.e., looking for landmarks) to navigate the virtual environment. We then compared the children’s navigation and spatial skills pre- and post-intervention. All the children improved their visual–spatial abilities; particularly, if the IVR activities specifically trained their ability to look for landmarks and use them to navigate. The results of this work highlight the potential of an IVR training program to increase the navigation abilities of patients with CPs.

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“…As mentioned above, sex can interact with the preference of spatial strategies. Indeed, in spatial orientation as well as in topographic memory there are strong evidences that men and women differ (for a review see: [52,53]). Thus, men tend to use a "survey" strategy, based on a map-like representation of landmarks and the spatial relationships between them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex Differences in Spatial Memory: Comparison of Three Tasks Using the Same Virtual Context

et al. 2021

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Spatial memory has been studied through different instruments and tools with different modalities of administration. The cognitive load varies depending on the measure used and it should be taken into account to correctly interpret results. The aim of this research was to analyze how men and women perform three different spatial memory tasks with the same spatial context but with different cognitive demands. A total of 287 undergraduate students from the University of Almeria (Spain) and the University of L’Aquila (Italy) participated in the study. They were divided into three groups balanced by sex according to the spatial memory test they performed: the Walking Space Boxes Room Task (WSBRT), the Almeria Spatial Memory Recognition Test (ASMRT) and the Non-Walking Space Boxes Room Task (NWSBRT). Time spent and number of errors/correct answers were registered for analysis. In relation to the WSBRT and the ASMRT, men were faster and reached the optimal level of performance before women. In the three tests, familiarity with the spatial context helped to reduce the number of errors, regardless of the level of difficulty. In conclusion, sex differences were determined by the familiarity with the spatial context, the difficulty level of the task, the active or passive role of the participant and the amount of visual information provided in each screen shot.

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Spatial skills

Cited by 19 publications

References 135 publications

Do Advanced Spatial Strategies Depend on the Number of Flight Hours? The Case of Military Pilots

Do Advanced Spatial Strategies Depend on the Number of Flight Hours? The Case of Military Pilots

Could an Immersive Virtual Reality Training Improve Navigation Skills in Children with Cerebral Palsy? A Pilot Controlled Study

Sex Differences in Spatial Memory: Comparison of Three Tasks Using the Same Virtual Context

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