Disrupted orientation after path integration by absence of anticipated prevalent spatial views.

Abstract

Two previous studies indicated that removing expected landmarks disrupts homing, a new phenomenon concerning the interplay between path integration and landmark-based navigation. This study systematically investigated when this disruption occurs, which spatial representations are disrupted, and whether lessening landmark prevalence mitigates this disruption. In immersive virtual environments, against three landmarks, participants learned the location of a home object (Experiments 2 and 3), plus two additional objects (Experiment 1), or plus four additional objects (Experiments 4 and 5). They then navigated an outbound path originating from the home object. After participants' views were blocked, landmarks were revealed for nine standard paths/trials but removed in a subsequent catch trial, except in Experiment 3 where a curtain kept landmarks concealed. In Experiment 5, landmarks were rotated instead of being removed in the second catch trial. Participants replaced the home object in standard trials but all objects in catch trials. Baseline trials, which were identical to the catch trials except for no landmarks throughout the trials, followed catch trials. The results showed larger homing errors in first catch trials than baseline trials when landmarks were removed (Experiment 2) but not when the curtain concealed the landmarks (Experiment 3). For experiments with multiple objects, participants' represented position and heading were calculated based on the replaced and correct locations. Experiment 1 showed disrupted homing and heading estimates but intact position estimates, while Experiments 4 and 5 showed no disruption. Additionally, participants followed rotated landmarks in Experiment 5. These findings provide a comprehensive picture of the interplay between path integration and landmarks in familiar environments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).