| dc.description.abstract | The current study sought to develop a novel paradigm for studying navigational decision-making during a ubiquitous navigation task, errand running. Participants learned the locations of twelve storefronts in a virtual shopping mall. Then, participants were given errand lists consisting of three storefronts which they would have to navigate to in the presented sequence. However, prior to running the errands, participants selected from a list of options a timeframe in which they thought they could complete the errands. If successful, they were given a monetary bonus for that trial; otherwise, they received no bonus for that trial. However, the size of the bonus was negatively related to the length of the timeframe such that shorter timeframes were associated with greater rewards. Furthermore, participants were required to wait a variable amount of time at each errand destination. The errand running task demonstrated high internal consistency, high test-retest reliability, and was associated with environmental knowledge, spatial ability, and risk-taking behaviors and perceptions. The errand running task provides a promising new paradigm in which to study navigational decision-making under uncertainty. | |
