This study has investigated navigation strategies and spatial memory in Euclidean versus non-Euclidean environments. It also had a focus on mental maps, homing abilities and past video game experiences. Two test groups traversed mazes with identical layouts, but in which the non-Euclidean version incorporated wormholes that teleported participants in an, to the participant, unobvious manner. Data such as distances, time taken, and individual routes was collected. A thematic survey regarding strategies and tests for deeming what kind of mental map the participants used were also employed. Shapiro-Wilk tests, QQ-plots, PCA, Boxplots, T-tests, Heatmaps and Mann-Whitney U tests were used depending on the suitable data. Results showed that there were no significant differences between the two test groups in terms of quantifiable data and overall strategies used, while still there were signs of better performance for both groups in some certain respects. At the look on the groups as a whole, the participants that were deemed to use cognitive topological graphs, rather than cognitive Euclidean maps, were more successful in achieving the objectives. The results imply that areas like game design can be pushed further when it comes to using abstract or non-conventional spaces created by wormholes, without having a negative effect on the players navigational abilities. The results are also consistent with prior research in the field of psychology that refers to people using both maps and graphs as a cognitive representation of space.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mau-68840 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Hyltén-Cavallius, Joar |
| Publisher | Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för teknik och samhälle (TS) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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