The effect of schizotypy on spatial learning in an environment with a distinctive shape

Abstract

In two experiments, participants completed the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences measuring schizotypal traits across four dimensions (unusual experiences, cognitive disorganization, introvertive anhedonia, and impulsive non-conformity). They then took part in a virtual navigation task where they were required to learn about the position of a hidden goal with reference to geometric cues of a rectangular arena or rely on colored wall panels to find the hidden goal in a square-shaped arena. Unusual experience and cognitive disorganization were significant predictors of the use of geometric cues, but no significant predictors were found for the use of wall panels. Implications to hippocampal function and the clinical domain are considered.

Keywords: cognitive disorganization; geometry; non-geometric cues; positive schizotypy; schizotypy; shape; unusual experiences.

FIGURE 1

Schematic and photographs of the virtual environments used in the two experiments. The small gray squares represent the goal locations; the colored L-shapes represent the colored wall panels. The solid black and dotted squares represent the correct and incorrect zones, respectively, for the purpose of analysis.