Spatial Navigation in Childhood and Aging

Abstract

Navigation waxes and wanes in precision and flexibility over the life span. However, at no age is it completely egocentric or allocentric, or completely nonmetric. Instead, we see steady changes in the balance of strategies and the extent to which relevant information is combined in an adaptive way. Many of these changes may be related to underlying neural maturation or decline, although we know less about this topic in the first 15 years of life than during aging. However, both behavioral and neural changes may be propelled by sensory, motor, or environmental pressures as well as by biological programs. When children and the elderly see or hear better, walk more confidently, and travel further independently, it is likely that navigational abilities respond.