Kalia Amy A, Legge Gordon E, Giudice Nicholas A
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, N218 Elliott Hall, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Perception. 2008;37(11):1677-99. doi: 10.1068/p5915.
Previous studies suggest that humans rely on geometric visual information (hallway structure) rather than non-geometric visual information (eg doors, signs, and lighting) for acquiring cognitive maps of novel indoor layouts. In this study we asked whether visual impairment and age affect reliance on non-geometric visual information for layout learning. We tested three groups of participants-younger (<50 years of age) normally sighted; older (50-70 years of age) normally sighted; and low-vision (people with heterogeneous forms of visual impairment ranging in age from 18 to 67 years). Participants learned target locations in building layouts using four presentation modes: a desktop virtual environment (VE) displaying only geometric cues (sparse VE); a VE displaying both geometric and non-geometric cues (photorealistic VE); a map; and a real building. Layout knowledge was assessed by map drawing and by asking participants to walk to specified targets in the real space. Results indicate that low-vision and older normally sighted participants relied on additional non-geometric information to accurately learn layouts. In conclusion, visual impairment and age may result in reduced perceptual and/or memory processing that makes it difficult to learn layouts without non-geometric visual information.
先前的研究表明，人类在获取新型室内布局的认知地图时，依赖的是几何视觉信息（走廊结构）而非非几何视觉信息（如门、标识和照明）。在本研究中，我们探讨了视力障碍和年龄是否会影响在布局学习中对非几何视觉信息的依赖。我们测试了三组参与者：年龄小于50岁的正常视力的年轻人；年龄在50至70岁之间的正常视力的老年人；以及低视力者（年龄在18至67岁之间，患有不同类型视力障碍的人群）。参与者通过四种呈现模式学习建筑布局中的目标位置：仅显示几何线索的桌面虚拟环境（VE）（稀疏VE）；同时显示几何和非几何线索的VE（逼真VE）；地图；以及真实建筑。通过绘制地图以及要求参与者在真实空间中走到指定目标来评估布局知识。结果表明，低视力和正常视力的老年参与者依赖额外的非几何信息来准确学习布局。总之，视力障碍和年龄可能导致感知和/或记忆处理能力下降，使得在没有非几何视觉信息的情况下难以学习布局。
