Gender Differences in Spatial Cognition: Wayfinding Performance and Sketch Mapping Activity of German Speakers

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies

This study aims to examine the wayfinding performance of men and women in a shifting frame of reference while following an outdoor wayfinding task with instructions given in German language. This is replicating the methodology of Ishikawa and Kiyomoto (2008) but adding gender component in the study. Twenty-four (24) German students composed of 12 men and 12 women in the undergraduate and graduate level who are unfamiliar the study area participated in the experiment. Snowball sampling method was used to gather participants. The participants were divided into the absolute-relative (A-R) and the relative-absolute (R-A) groups. For the AR group, the first set of instructions were given in the absolute frame and shifted to relative frame of reference. The R-A group, on the other hand, the participants walked the first route set following relative directions before shifting to the absolute directions in the second route set. The wayfinding measures used in analyzing the participant’s performance were the number of stops, number of deviations, and the off-route distances they made. Also, included are the time spent and the walking speed of each participant. Mixed ANOVA was used for statistical analysis of the result. It resulted in the experiment that participants in both groups had difficulty following the absolute instructions. The A-R group showed more stops and deviations in the whole experiment for the shifting frame of reference. In terms of gender, women made few stops, few deviations, and did not walk off the route frequently based on the absolute or relative frame. A correlation between the result of Sta. Barbara Sense of Direction Scale and the three wayfinding measures was done to examine the individual differences in terms of their spatial skills based on their performance. There were some uncontrolled situations that occurred while the experiment was being undertaken such as the changing weather condition wherein some experiment days will be rainy and snowy however, it did not affect the participant’s wayfinding performance.