UC Santa Barbara

A spectrum of individual differences exists in navigation ability, measured by different navigation tasks. The underlying cognitive mechanisms have been discussed for decades. However, possible motivational and emotional dispositions related to navigation highlighted

in the current studies call for more attention. After developing three new self-report surveys, it was found that people with low spatial anxiety have high tendency to explore different places and low tendency to rely on Global Positioning Systems (GPS) during navigation. Also, these navigation behaviors can be treated as partial mediators to explain how anxiety influences navigation ability. Growth mindset in navigation ability (a belief in malleability of navigation ability), serving as an intrinsic motivation to train people themselves on more effective navigation in daily life, explains a unique portion of variance in navigation ability. This study paves a new path for understanding the development of navigation ability.