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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.COSIT.2017.9

Sense of Direction: One or Two Dimensions?

Authors: Clare Davies, Lucy Athersuch, and Nikki Amos

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 86, 13th International Conference on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT 2017)

Abstract

The Santa Barbara Sense of Direction scale (SBSOD) has been an invaluable research tool for over 15 years. Previous studies with non-US populations, despite supporting the scale's internal validity, suggested national differences in individual item responses and possibly the factor analytic structure, although translation differences were confounded with cultural and environmental factors. Using a pooled British sample (N=151) - avoiding linguistic translation, yet reflecting 'old world' environmental experience and strategies - this paper revisits the SBSOD's validity and structure. While largely supporting the scale's internal validity across cultures and spatial environments, findings from this population suggest at least a two-factor structure underlying the scores, with the first factor explaining less than half of its variance, supporting the oft-discussed division between survey- and route-oriented strategies. We conclude by proposing a more nuanced, efficiency-based theory of 'sense of direction'.

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Clare Davies, Lucy Athersuch, and Nikki Amos. Sense of Direction: One or Two Dimensions?. In 13th International Conference on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT 2017). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 86, pp. 9:1-9:13, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017)

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@InProceedings{davies_et_al:LIPIcs.COSIT.2017.9,
  author =	{Davies, Clare and Athersuch, Lucy and Amos, Nikki},
  title =	{{Sense of Direction: One or Two Dimensions?}},
  booktitle =	{13th International Conference on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT 2017)},
  pages =	{9:1--9:13},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-043-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2017},
  volume =	{86},
  editor =	{Clementini, Eliseo and Donnelly, Maureen and Yuan, May and Kray, Christian and Fogliaroni, Paolo and Ballatore, Andrea},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.COSIT.2017.9},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-77590},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.COSIT.2017.9},
  annote =	{Keywords: sense of direction, spatial ability, cognitive mapping}
}

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Sense of Direction: One or Two Dimensions?

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