An interesting set of studies coming out of Canada delve into how we find our way from place to place.
First thing they found: the best way to find out how good a navigator someone is is to ask them.
Those who believed they had a good sense of direction were also the ones who did best in the tests: They took less time and more intuitively found their way, even if they weren’t necessarily more efficient. By contrast, those who said their sense of direction was poor took longer, stopped more often and checked landmarks more frequently.
Secondly, there was no substantial difference in outcome between men and women. In general, both are equally good at finding their way. But, again as a generalization, they did it differently, which is often the root of the old stereotyped conflict.
In the survey method, you visualize an area’s layout from a top-down view, like a printed map, comparing different landmarks based on how they’re placed in relation to each other. In the route method, you use a series of directions — turn left, turn right, go uphill — to tell you how to get somewhere specific.
Both methods work together to give us spatial cognition, the mental process of relating to spaces around us, which is what allows us to find our way.
And then there are the sex differences.
What the Edmonton study found was that men were more likely to use the survey method, using a specific landmark in the distance to find their way, while women were more likely to use a specific route and follow directions.
Both work, and neither is inherently better. But knowing which one is easier for someone to understand can make a huge difference in getting them where they want to go. It also explains that classic situation of a man driving and a woman in the passenger seat, navigating. The man misses a turn but claims a couple quick turns will fix the problem. “She’s already getting nervous because they missed the turn, they’re off route,” Cornell says.
Our hypothetical couple goes on a bit further and hits a dead end — “and she says, ‘We’re lost,’ and he says, ‘We’re not really lost,’” Cornell says. At that point, the man is thinking of their position in survey terms, as though he could pinpoint it on a map — indeed, they’re probably not far from where they’re going. The woman, however, is frustrated because he’s broken the route structure that would get them to their destination.
There seem to be some deep-seated cultural differences (if not biological ones) behind these differing strategies. But they also have implications for map-makers, GPS-manufacturers, and the like, in terms of giving information that’s meaningful for either strategy.
Interesting stuff.