“Freely explore this environment”: individual differences in exploration behavior and survey knowledge

When navigating individuals form mental representations of their environment. Significant individual differences exist, particularly in the ability to develop survey knowledge-a map-like understanding of spatial relationships. While many studies have focused on navigation via predetermined routes, less is known about individual differences in learning environments from free exploration. This study investigated whether exploration behaviors, such as the tendency to revisit places or diffuse in the environment, are linked to mental representations and whether visuospatial factors, like visuospatial working memory and self-reported wayfinding inclinations (e.g., self-efficacy and pleasure in exploring, and spatial anxiety), contribute to these relationships. A sample of 234 participants (147 womencompleted a visuospatial working memory task and wayfinding questionnaires, then freely explored a virtual city in a CAVE environment. Revisiting (tendency to re-explore visited areas) and diffusion (extent of environmental coverage) were calculated. Their survey knowledge was assessed using a map drawing task. The results showed that exploration behaviors were related to individual differences: women exhibited less revisiting and diffusion than men; higher self-efficacy and pleasure in exploring were associated with reduced revisiting; and joystick familiarity favoured diffusion. Furthermore, exploration behaviors mediated the relationship between gender and self-efficacy and pleasure in exploring with map accuracy. Map drawing was also directly predicted by visuospatial working memory ability. These findings offer insights into the role of individual differences in exploration behaviors and their relationship to survey knowledge gained from free exploration, highlighting the importance of individual factors in how environments are experienced and processed.Significance statementSome people are better at understanding where landmarks are in a place and how they are connected, while others find it more difficult. This paper investigates whether the way we move through an environment (how we explore) relates to this ability, along with other personal factors. When exploring a city, some people move around a lot, while others stay closer to familiar areas. We found that this is related to how well people understand the layout of the place. Importantly, we also found that personal attitudes toward orientation matter: people who feel more confident and enjoy exploring tend to revisit places less. On the other hand, the ability to mentally handle visual and spatial information (visuospatial working memory) doesn't change how we explore, but it does help us build a better understanding of the environment. Gender and familiarity with using a joystick also related to how people explored and what they learned. By studying how people move and how this relates to their individual characteristics, we can better understand how we learn about the environments.