A recent study found that while playing video games regularly can improve navigation skills, relying on GPS systems doesn't seem to affect one's ability to find their way. New research provides insight into how modern technology affects our cognitive functions, particularly in terms of wayfinding abilities. This research Journal of Environmental Psychology.
Navigation is an important cognitive function that involves complex processes such as planning routes, reading maps, identifying landmarks, and maintaining a sense of direction. The ability to move effectively is essential to daily life and can impact safety and independence.
Poor navigation skills are often an early symptom, especially for people with cognitive impairment or diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, which can lead to distressing and dangerous situations. By understanding how everyday activities such as playing video games and using GPS devices affect navigation skills, researchers can uncover factors that can enhance or impair this important cognitive ability. We aimed to clarify.
The study's motivation also stems from previous research suggesting that while video games may improve spatial cognition, reliance on GPS may weaken navigation skills. Video games often require players to navigate complex virtual environments, which can train spatial awareness and problem-solving skills. In contrast, the use of GPS devices reduces the load on the cognitive processes undertaken during navigation, which may lead to a decline in these skills.
“Understanding how daily activities influence individual differences in navigational abilities is important because the use of advancing modern technology has the potential to exercise individuals' navigational abilities (e.g., video games) and However, the effects of video games and reliance on GPS are important to consider, both because they can be used to reduce the load on the cognitive processes that normally occur during navigation. It has not been directly tested on a large scale using tasks,” said study author Emre Yavuz, a doctoral student in cognitive neuroscience at University College London.
To investigate these relationships, researchers used the mobile app Sea Hero Quest, a validated tool for assessing navigation skills. Sea Hero Quest is a spatial navigation game that has been shown to effectively predict real-world wayfinding performance. The study involved 822 participants from the United States, 367 men and 455 women, with an average age of 26.3 years.
Participants were recruited through the Prolific database and completed a series of tasks within the Sea Hero Quest app to measure navigation performance. In this app, the player has to travel through a virtual environment on a boat and look for sea creatures based on the map provided at the beginning of each level.
In addition to navigation tasks, participants completed self-report questionnaires about their reliance on GPS and video gaming habits. The GPS Dependency Questionnaire assessed how often participants used their GPS in various situations over the past month. Regarding video game habits, participants reported the number of hours they spent playing video games each week, the types of games they played, and the devices they used.
The researchers found that participants who played video games for more than 10 hours a week had significantly better navigation performance than those who played less. This finding supports the idea that video games, which often require players to navigate complex virtual environments, can enhance spatial awareness and cognitive processes related to wayfinding.
Interestingly, the genre of video game played did not significantly alter this relationship, suggesting that the cognitive benefits of gaming may be widespread and not limited to a specific type of game. doing.
The researchers also considered the possibility that because the Sea Hero Quest game is itself a video game, it may have an advantage for participants who are familiar with the game interface. However, we did not find a significant relationship between video game experience and performance at the game's tutorial level, which requires minimal navigation skills. This suggests that the observed benefits of video game play on navigation performance are specific to tasks that require cognitive demands such as orientation and spatial memory, rather than simply being familiar with the game controls. I am.
“The finding that video games are significantly associated with navigation performance only at more difficult game levels is surprising given that it opens the possibility that video games are particularly important when navigation is more complex. “It was interesting. This is a hypothesis that actually hasn't been objectively verified by previous studies,” Yavuz told PsyPost.
The findings regarding GPS dependence were also surprising. Despite previous research suggesting that high reliance on GPS can offload cognitive processes to the device and impair navigation skills, the researchers found that We found no evidence of a positive or negative impact on navigation performance.
“If GPS use is bad for us, then those who report using GPS the most should be worse navigators,” Yavuz explained. “We don't see any effect at all. The use of GPS has nothing to do with navigation skills, at least when using a map to find your way in a new location, as we tested.”
However, like any research, this study includes limitations. The sample was limited to US participants, primarily young adults, and may not reflect broader population trends. Additionally, this study relied on cross-sectional data, which captured a single point in time, limiting the ability to draw causal conclusions.
“This study was cross-sectional and revealed associations between variables,” Yavuz noted. “Further research, including intervention-based studies and real-world studies, will be needed to clarify the causal relationship between GPS use/video games and human spatial navigation abilities.”
Despite these limitations, this study opens up exciting avenues for future research. One important direction is to investigate whether the benefits of video games on navigation skills can be replicated in real-world settings. Although the Sea Hero Quest app is a useful tool for assessing navigation skills, it is still a virtual environment.
This study also questions the feasibility of using video games as a tool for cognitive training. If playing certain types of video games can improve navigation skills, it may be possible to develop targeted video game-based interventions to improve cognitive function. This may be particularly beneficial for people with navigational impairments, such as those with early signs of Alzheimer's disease or other cognitive disorders.
“Our study provides a platform for future intervention-based causal studies that consider specific genres of video games that may be important in shaping navigation performance, as well as It also helps determine how to interact with/use assistive devices, which may be important in shaping navigation performance,'' Yavuz said.
The study, “Video games are associated with spatial navigation performance, but not GPS dependence,” was conducted by Emre Yavuz, Chuanxiuyue He, Christoffer J. Gahnstrom, Sarah Goodroe, Antoine Coutrot, Michael Hornberger, Mary Hegarty , written by Hugo J. spire.
