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Abstract:
We tested two hypotheses about how path integration and visual landmarks are combined during human navigation.
(1) The Bayesian integration hypothesis predicts that navigation will be determined by a weighted combination of information sources, with weights based on their individual reliability (Cheng et al., 2007); (2) the multiple-system hypothesis predicts that different information will dominate
under different environmental conditions (Shettleworth & Sutton, 2005). Participants performed a triangle completion task in an ambulatory virtual environment. The visual landmarks were covertly shifted prior to the home-bound leg (by 15º to 135º). With local landmarks, participants followed the landmarks completely up to a 90º shift and then
switched to rely on path integration at 135º. With distal landmarks, they primarily relied on path integration and ignored the landmarks. These findings indicate that path integration may function as a backup or reference system for navigation, rather than being optimally integrated with
visual landmarks.
