Taking another look at the relationship between egocentric perspective-taking ability and environmental learning

摘要: In psychometric research on spatial cognition, egocentric perspective-taking ability (PTA) has generally been shown to have predictive validity with regards to the learning of new environmental knowledge. This study reassessed the significant relationship found previously between egocentric PTA and environmental learning by introducing a new three-dimensional, virtual reality PTA task together with more fine-grained assessments of environmental learning. Based on structural equation modelling, the egocentric PTA factor was found to predict the environmental learning factor significantly in terms of pointing accuracy, goal proximity, and response latency. These findings were interpreted with regards to the spatial processes engendering PTA and the need for further investigations into the functional roles of different spatial or imagery strategies for perspective-taking.