Spatial Navigation and Aging in Two Virtual Reality Environments
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Authors
Beauvais, Alison R.
Issue Date
2003
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The spatial navigation of older (65 years and above) and younger adults (less than 65
years) was assessed in a virtual maze setting and in a virtual Morris Water Maze. The
Morris Water Maze has been used extensively as a means for studying the cognitive
aging in animals, and so in this study it has been applied to human learning and memory
systems in a virtual reality context. Forty-two individuals were grouped into either the
old or young category respectively. Participants were acclimated to the computer
equipment in several trial phases before they were tested in both the maze (a series of
interconnected pathways) and the virtual Morris Water Maze programs, which were
counter-balanced across participants. Older participants took longer and traveled a
greater distance to reach the goal in each maze trial. They also made significantly more
spatial memory errors than younger participants in the virtual maze. Cognitive mapping
skills of the virtual Morris Water Maze were analyzed to reveal that older individuals had
a more difficult time locating the actual platform during the probe trial than did younger
individuals. Older participants traversed a greater distance overall when asked to locate
the hidden platform in the virtual Morris Water Maze, which further illustrated the age-related
deficits associated with spatial navigation.
Description
v, 52 p.
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