I believe I'm good at orienting myself… But is that true?

Cogn Process. 2015 Aug;16(3):301-7. doi: 10.1007/s10339-015-0655-3. Epub 2015 May 12.

Abstract

The present study aimed to analyse beliefs that men and women have with respect to their sense of direction (SOD) and whether they correlate with spatial environmental task performance. Eighty-four students filled in the short version of the Familiarity and Spatial Cognitive Style Scale to evaluate beliefs on their SOD, knowledge of the city (TK), spatial ability (SA) and wayfinding (WA) and performed three spatial environmental tasks. Results showed that gender did not predict the performance on the spatial environmental tasks, whereas it can be predicted by participants' beliefs related to their SOD and TK. The findings point out the need to identify specific training aimed at improving women's metacognitive skills in order to delete or reduce gender differences in SA.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Orientation / physiology*
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology*
  • Sex Factors
  • Spatial Behavior / physiology*
  • Spatial Memory / physiology*
  • Young Adult