This issue is now being studied further using virtual reality. There are many contributing factors involved in how one finds her way. A cognitive map helps an individual navigate through the world. Cognitive maps allow humans to store and organize spatial information. Males are noted to have superior spatial abilities, such as map reading, when compared with females.
Females rely primarily on landmarks while navigating.
The participants in this study were 14 males, and 14 females from St. Anselm College. All participants were enrolled in general psychology classes. The virtual reality task used Superscape for the design. Two mazes were designed to conduct the first part of the experiment. The mazes were identical with the exception of five landmarks present in maze two.