Enclosure shape influences cue competition effects and goal location learning

• Published in: Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) Vol. 63; no. 8; pp. 1552 - 1567
• Main Authors: Wilson, Paul N., Alexander, Tim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England Psychology Press 01.08.2010; SAGE Publications
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Association Learning - physiology; Attention; Biological and medical sciences; Blocking; Cue competition; Cues; Environment; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geometry; Goals; Humans; Landmarks; Male; Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology; Perception; Photic Stimulation - methods; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reaction Time - physiology; Space Perception - physiology; Spatial learning; User-Computer Interface; Virtual environment; Vision; Young Adult; Geometry; Blocking; Landmarks; Virtual environment; Spatial learning; Cue competition; Competition; Human; Space perception; Experimental study; Goal; Acquisition process; Visual cue; Vision; Virtual reality; Perception; Perceptive learning
• ISSN: 1747-0218; 1747-0226
• DOI: 10.1080/17470210903428761

In virtual-environment spatial-learning procedures, Experiment 1 investigated blocking of learning about distal landmarks beyond the walls of an enclosure following preliminary training to find a goal using local landmarks within the enclosure. Separate sets of blocking and control groups searched within enclosures that, in plan view, formed either a square or a circle. Blocking was apparent when training and testing occurred in the circular but not the square enclosure. In Experiment 2, preliminary training to find a goal using local landmarks blocked spatial learning based on a circular enclosure divided into four differently coloured sections. The results are discussed in relation to theories of incidental versus error-correcting learning linked to different types of spatial cue.