Finding the shortest path in a familiar environment: A comparison between describing and walking a path after accounting for the role of individual factors

Finding the shortest path to a destination is a refined navigation ability little explored as yet in familiar environments. The present study examined this ability when walking or describing the path, and how performance relates to individual differences. Sixty-seven undergraduates familiar with the area around their campus were asked to find the shortest path to a destination by walking there or describing it in writing. Several visuospatial tasks and questionnaires were administered. It emerged that shortest path finding performance was supported by familiarity and sense of direction. After accounting for these individual factors, participants performed better when walking than when describing a path. Overall, the results showed that retrieving spatial knowledge about familiar environments relates to individual differences and recall condition, walking a path being easier than describing it.