The Impact of Orientation Training on Spatial Cognition and Spatial Behavior in Elderly Shoppers

The present study focuses on the acquisition of spatial knowledge in a large-scale, novel environment and on the interrelationships among psychometric tests of imagery, psychometric tests of spatial abilities, and experimental tasks involving spatial knowledge. Forty elderly females were provided microspatial information by four means: cartography; videotape; verbal description; and verbal description with imagery instructions. Analyses of behavior in a simulated shopping task within a suburban shop­ ping mall revealed differences in performance only for efficiency in Route Selection task. Cartographic and verbal presentations resulted in greater efficiency than did verbal description with imagery instructions or video­ tape presentations. Supplemental correlational analyses indicated no significant relationships between psycho­ metric measures of spatial abilities and the measure of behavioral efficiency under any of the four treatment conditions. Discussion focused on the need for further re­ search to expedite environmental learning by the elderly.