The effect of time pressure and self-correction on successful wayfinding decisions

This study investigated two variables that may impact wayfinding decisions: time pressure and active error corrections. Participants traveled through five virtual mazes, each designed for a specific wayfinding strategy. At each intersection, they had either 3 seconds or unlimited time to decide where to proceed, and they either did or did not actively correct their decision errors. Decision accuracy was reduced under time pressure only with wayfinding strategies requiring an internal representation of space, and that active corrections had little impact on accuracy with all strategies. Thus, time pressure but not the need to correct were determinants of wayfinding accuracy.