Strategies for indoor wayfinding: The role of orientation

This study identified self-reported strategies for indoor wayfinding, and examined their correlation with strategies previously identified for outdoor wayfinding. Relationships of indoor strategies with spatial anxiety and gender differences were also examined. Validity of the self-report measures was assessed in relation to accuracy in an actual pointing task. Results from 278 college students showed that indoor reliance on directional cues correlated with the outdoor orientation strategy and indoor reliance on route information correlated with the outdoor route strategy. Consistent with findings for outdoor strategies, men reported higher use of the indoor orientation strategy and women reported higher use of the indoor route strategy. Indoor and outdoor orientation strategies were associated with low levels of spatial anxiety, and gender, orientation strategies, and spatial anxiety predicted pointing accuracy. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited