Table 1. Demographic information and cognitive measures of young and older adults
Young adults
(n = 31)
|
Older adults
(n = 30)
|
t
|
Effect size (d)
|
M
|
SD
|
M
|
SD
|
Age (years)
|
22.68
|
3.07
|
67.30
|
5.10
|
-41.24***
|
-0.98
|
Education (years)
|
15.61
|
2.09
|
15.27
|
1.39
|
0.76
|
0.10
|
Computer exposure
|
1.23
|
0.43
|
1.73
|
0.78
|
-3.13**
|
-0.81
|
Virtual reality exposure
|
2.48
|
0.72
|
2.97
|
0.18
|
-3.60**
|
-0.94
|
MMSE
|
28.68
|
1.14
|
28.70
|
1.32
|
-0.07
|
-0.01
|
MMQ-contentment
|
50.55
|
12.19
|
46.50
|
11.04
|
1.36
|
0.17
|
MMQ-ability
|
54.45
|
9.60
|
50.18
|
10.83
|
1.63
|
0.20
|
MMQ-strategy
|
33.94
|
15.08
|
30.42
|
14.57
|
0.94
|
0.12
|
WAIS block design
|
42.87
|
4.62
|
33.33
|
6.71
|
6.42***
|
0.64
|
Forward digit span
|
8.74
|
0.58
|
7.73
|
0.83
|
5.51***
|
0.576
|
Backward digit span
|
6.74
|
1.53
|
5.20
|
1.42
|
4.081**
|
0.463
|
M: mean; SD: standard deviation; MMSE: Mini-Mental State Examination; MMQ: Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire; WAIS: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV. ** p < .01, *** p < .001
Table 2. Demographic information of egocentric and non-egocentric strategy navigators in young and older adults.
Young adults (n = 28)
|
Older adults (n = 30)
|
Egocentric
(n = 17)
|
Non-egocentric (n = 11)
|
Egocentric
(n = 7)
|
Non-egocentric (n = 23)
|
Age (year)
|
21.57 ± 2.68
|
23.59 ± 3.14
|
67.43 ± 5.05
|
66.86 ± 5.64
|
Female/Male
|
8/9
|
7/4
|
12/11
|
5/2
|
3 young adults (2 males and 1 female) exceeded three-standard deviations (SDs) in the 6th and 7th learning trials and were excluded from the analyses.
Table 3. Repeated-measure ANOVA with age and strategy as between factors and trial as within factor (n = 58)
Speed (vm/ second)
|
Rotation (°)
|
Distance error (%)
|
Successful trials (%)
|
Age
|
F
|
25.906
|
2.711
|
2.235
|
3.584
|
p
|
< 0 .001***
|
0.105
|
0.141
|
0.064
|
Effect size (η2)
|
0.32
|
0.048
|
0.04
|
0.062
|
Strategy
|
F
|
0.385
|
6.969
|
6.326
|
1.96
|
p
|
0.538
|
0.011*
|
0.015*
|
0.167
|
Effect size (η2)
|
0.007
|
0.114
|
0.105
|
0.035
|
Trial
|
F
|
10.86
|
2.535
|
2.796
|
0.627
|
p
|
< 0 .001***
|
0.047*
|
0.024*
|
0.678
|
Effect size (η2)
|
0.167
|
0.045
|
0.049
|
0.011
|
Age × Strategy
|
F
|
0.524
|
7.385
|
7.182
|
4.037
|
p
|
0.472
|
0.009**
|
0.010**
|
0.050*
|
Effect size (η2)
|
0.010
|
0.120
|
0.117
|
0.070
|
Age × Trial
|
F
|
1.284
|
0.123
|
0.279
|
0.094
|
p
|
0.269
|
0.966
|
0.902
|
0.993
|
Effect size (η2)
|
0.023
|
0.002
|
0.005
|
0.002
|
Strategy × Trial
|
F
|
0.525
|
0.150
|
0.304
|
0.600
|
p
|
0.765
|
0.952
|
0.885
|
0.698
|
Effect size (η2)
|
0.010
|
0.003
|
0.006
|
0.011
|
Age × Strategy × Trial
|
F
|
1.136
|
1.024
|
1.160
|
1.321
|
p
|
0.342
|
0.392
|
0.330
|
0.256
|
Effect size (η2)
|
0.021
|
0.019
|
0.021
|
0.024
|
3 young adults (2 males and 1 female) were excluded from the repeated-measure ANOVA because of exceeding three-standard deviations in rotation. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001.
Table 4. Correlations between navigation performance and cognitive tests in young and older adults
WAIS block design
|
Forward digit span
|
Backward digit span
|
r
|
p
|
r
|
p
|
r
|
p
|
Young adults
|
Speed (vm/ second)
|
-0.10
|
0.618
|
-0.064
|
0.747
|
-0.054
|
0.787
|
Rotation (°)
|
0.0
|
0.703
|
0.003
|
0.988
|
0.018
|
0.928
|
Distance error (%)
|
0.132
|
0.502
|
-0.167
|
0.397
|
0.015
|
0.938
|
Successful trials (%)
|
-0.144
|
0.465
|
0.021
|
0.915
|
-0.068
|
0.732
|
Older adults
|
Speed (vm/ second)
|
0.370
|
0.044*
|
-0.123
|
0.519
|
0.207
|
0.272
|
Rotation (°)
|
-0.355
|
0.054
|
-0.03
|
0.876
|
-0.222
|
0.238
|
Distance error (%)
|
-0.267
|
0.154
|
-0.053
|
0.779
|
-0.19
|
0.313
|
Successful trials (%)
|
0.417
|
0.022*
|
-0.193
|
0.307
|
0.151
|
0.426
|
WAIS: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV; * p < .05.
Table 5. Independent sample t tests between egocentric older adults and non-egocentric older adults
Egocentric older adults (n = 7)
|
Non-egocentric older adults (n = 23)
|
t
|
Effect size (d)
|
M
|
SD
|
M
|
SD
|
WAIS block design
|
37.57
|
3.31
|
31.74
|
7.1
|
3.008**
|
1.05
|
Forward digit span
|
7.43
|
1.13
|
7.78
|
0.67
|
-0.785
|
-0.38
|
Backward digit span
|
5.29
|
1.38
|
5.26
|
1.39
|
0.041
|
0.02
|
MMQ-contentment
|
38.57
|
10.45
|
48.26
|
9.83
|
-2.252*
|
-0.96
|
MMQ-ability
|
41.79
|
9.21
|
52.78
|
10.12
|
-2.565*
|
-1.14
|
MMQ-strategy
|
39.29
|
14.73
|
27.41
|
13.48
|
1.999
|
0.84
|
M: mean; SD: standard deviation; WAIS: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV; MMQ: Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire. * p < .05, ** p < .01.