Wayfinding by Children and Adults: Response to Instructions to Use Look-Back and Retrace Strategies

The wayfinding abilities of 6- and 12-year-old children were compared with those of 22-year-old adults. After their 1st walk across a university campus, participants were asked to lead the way back along the same route. Participants in 2 conditions ( look back and retrace ) were given instructions intended to prevent wandering, whereas those in a 3rd (uninstructed) condition were only told that they were going on a tour. A series of instructions to look back at the return path increased subsequent travel on route by the 2 older age groups. Instructions to monitor the familiarity of landmarks and to stop and retrace to a known portion of the path when feeling unsure did not effectively reduce travel off route. In general, wayfinding performance by 12-year-old children did not reliably differ from that of 22-year-old adults.