Egocentric and allocentric frame of reference in virtual maze navigation

Abstract

This study examines how a representation of an egocentric orientation influences selecting an allocentric frame of reference when we guide someone through a virtual maze constructed by three-dimensional computer graphics. In two experiments, participants guided a human-like agent through a virtual maze. They were instructed to use an allocentric frame of reference (an agent-centered frame of reference) to guide the agent through a maze in Experiment 1. Additionally, they were instructed to represent their own orientations during navigation and to answer their own orientations at a maze's goal in Experiment 2. We controlled experimentally sizes of mazes and analyzed participants' patterns and reaction times of selecting a direction of movement for the agent in the two experiments. The results showed that a representation of an egocentric orientation influenced selecting an allocentric frame of reference in maze navigation depending on a size of a maze.


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