The Influence of Sense of Direction on Egocentric and Allocentric Spatial Reference Frame Representation: An Investigation Utilizing Behavioral and Eye‐Tracking Metrics

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sense of direction is one of the important factors influencing the egocentric and allocentric reference frame representation in daily wayfinding. Existing behavioral studies have shown a significant correlation between sense of direction and the accuracy of allocentric reference frame representation. However, the relationship between sense of direction and egocentric reference frame representation remains unclear, and it is still not well understood how sense of direction affects the visual attention characteristics of these two types of spatial frame representations. To address these, we employed behavioral and eye‐tracking metrics to compare the performance of individuals with a good or poor sense of direction on tasks involving egocentric and allocentric spatial reference frame representation. The results revealed that, in the egocentric task, individuals with a poor sense of direction demonstrated longer task completion time, lower accuracy in angle and distance estimation, and lower visual processing efficiency, indicating the core source of individual differences in sense of direction lies in the cognitive processing level. In the allocentric task, individuals with a poor sense of direction performed worse behaviorally (lower accuracy, longer task completion time), but their eye‐tracking metrics showed no significant difference from those with a good sense of direction. This inconsistency between eye‐tracking and behavioral metrics indicates that the influence of sense of direction on spatial performance is reference‐frame‐specific, and that environmental cues provide only limited compensation for deficiencies in spatial representation ability. This study deepens the understanding of the psychological mechanisms through which sense of direction influences spatial reference frame representation.