The role of spatial anxiety wayfinding and task conditions in navigational task performance

Abstract

The study aimed at exploring the role of spatial anxiety, wayfinding and task conditions in navigational task performance. Spatial anxiety is defined as anxiety about performing spatial tasks (Ramirez et al., 2012). Coluccia and Louse (2004) understood navigation as a complex of all the skills used for locating oneself with respect to a point of reference or an absolute system of coordinates . Passini (1987) explained wayfinding as spatial problem solving that comprises three major processes: information processing, decision making and decision execution or initiation of movement in space comprising a behavioural and (spatial) environmental component . The Spatial Anxiety Questionnaire by Lyons et al. (2018) was used to measure spatial anxiety, the Wayfinding Questionnaire by Rooij et al. (2019) was used to measure wayfinding and the simulated Navigation Test Suite by Wiener et al. (2020) was used to measure Navigational Task Performance. A 3x3x3 repeated measures ANOVA i.e. 3 way ANOVA with repeated measures on the last two variable was used to analyse the data. The results were fetching and showed that spatial anxiety, wayfinding and task conditions play a significant role in navigational task performance. newline