I learned how to drive during the
summer vacation of 2007 before entering college. I got my license on November
of the same year but I was not allowed to bring a car to school until January
2008. When I was first permitted to drive to school, my parents had me follow a
list of rules. First, I cannot go home late. The sun should still be up when I
arrive home. Second, I must leave the house with enough time allowance so I
will not rush while driving. Third, I must let pedestrians cross the road.
Lastly, I must only drive the route from our house and UP. I must not make any
detours that might make me lost.
My parents are very intelligent
individuals. They were able to predict that if ever I get lost, I might have a
hard time finding my way back home. The concern of parent for their kids who
are starting to drive might have been a factor which inspired Thomas, Laurance,
Nadel and Jacobs to conduct their study. In 2010, these researchers wanted to
find out whether stress can affect the navigation skills of individuals.
Previous studies have shown that the hippocampus plays a significant role in
the relationship of stress and other cognitive functions. The hippocampus
releases some hormones that may hinder performance on memory tasks. In driving,
the effects of the hippocampus may affect the retrieval of cognitive maps, the
maps people have of places stored in their memories, for navigation when they
are under stress. However, the hormones from the hippocampus do not affect the
brain areas that are responsible for landmark-based navigation techniques.
The experiment that Thomas,
Laurance, Nadel and Jacobs conducted yielded interesting results. Their
findings show that stress can impair women’s navigation abilities using
cognitive maps which were not observed in their male participants. Also,
landmark-based navigation techniques of both males and females were not
affected by stress. In addition to these, they found out that several factors
such as nature of the task, context and individual differences might affect
people’s spatial navigation abilities. One particular finding that was really
interesting is that the menstrual cycle of females may play a role in
navigation. Other studies have suggested that the fluctuating levels of steroid
hormones such as estradiol and testosterone in women may have effects on their
visuospatial skills. Also, it has been observed that females have different
levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, in their saliva during different phases
of their cycle. This may account for their decreased ability in cognitive
map-based spatial navigation as well.
It was mentioned in class that
males use cognitive maps more when navigating while females use landmarks more
often. This difference in the gender’s preferences for navigation might have
made males more adapted to getting lost in a place. The stress does not really
ruin their cognitive maps. Maybe this is the reason why they usually prefer not
asking directions from other people when they are lost. You just have to give
them time to figure it out. Although sometimes, it really takes a long time
before they do.
I am really not sure what type of
navigation technique I use whenever I drive around. I have never gotten lost
since I started driving so probably, I navigate using landmarks more. After
reading this article, I thought that I should be more careful and prepared the
next time I go on the road. I shall purchase a map of the streets of Metro
Manila on my next visit to the bookstore. It is unavoidable to feel stressed if
I get lost. Therefore, I shall just be equipped with the proper tools that can
help me out when this situation happens. Fortunately, I learned orienteering
and map reading during my CWTS class. I never thought that this skill would
come in handy in the super near future.
Laurance, H., Nadel, L. &
Jacobs, J. (2010). Stress-induced impairment of spatial navigation in females. South African Journal of Psychology, 40(1),
32-43.
Photos from: www.vehiclevibes.com
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