Abstract
The Santa Barbara Sense of Direction scale (SBSOD) has been an invaluable research tool for over 15 years. Previous studies with non-US populations, despite supporting the scale’s internal validity, suggested national differences in individual item responses and possibly the factor analytic structure, although translation differences were confounded with cultural and environmental factors. Using a pooled British sample (N=151) - avoiding linguistic translation, yet reflecting ’old world’ environmental experience and strategies - this paper revisits the SBSOD’s validity and structure. While largely supporting the scale’s internal validity across cultures and spatial
environments, findings from this population suggest at least a two-factor structure underlying the scores, with the first factor explaining less than half of its variance, supporting the oft-discussed division between survey- and route-oriented strategies. We conclude by proposing a more nuanced, efficiency-based theory of ’sense of direction’.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 9:1-9:13 |
Journal | LIPIcs: Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics |
Issue number | 86 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 4 Sep 2017 |
Keywords
- sense of direction, spatial ability, cognitive mapping