Development of Cue Integration in Human Navigation
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Mammalian navigation depends both on visual landmarks and on self-generated (e.g., vestibular and proprioceptive) cues that signal the organism's own movement [1-5]. When these conflict, landmarks can either reset estimates of self-motion or be integrated with them [6-9]. We asked how humans combine these information sources and whether children, who use both from a young age [10-12], combine them as adults do. Participants attempted to return an object to its original place in an arena when given either visual landmarks only, nonvisual self-motion information only, or both. Adults, but not 4- to 5-year-olds or 7- to 8-year-olds, reduced their response variance when both information sources were available. In an additional "conflict" condition that measured relative reliance on landmarks and self-motion, we predicted behavior under two models: integration (weighted averaging) of the cues and alternation between them. Adults' behavior was predicted by integration, in which the cues were weighted nearly optimally to reduce variance, whereas children's behavior was predicted by alternation. These results suggest that development of individual spatial-representational systems precedes development of the capacity to combine these within a common reference frame. Humans can integrate spatial cues nearly optimally to navigate, but this ability depends on an extended developmental process.
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Some multisensory abilities are present from early infancy, but children do not integrate information across modalities to reduce sensory uncertainty until age ≥8 y.
“Although some multisensory abilities are present from early infancy (6–8), in recent studies, children did not integrate information across modalities for shape discrimination, spatial localization, or detection of visual–auditory events until age ≥8 y (9–11).”
From Fusion of visual cues is not mandatory in children (2010) · cites this paper as [9]
Sensory integration for uncertainty reduction did not emerge any earlier within the single modality of vision than across modalities in previous studies.
“Sensory integration for uncertainty reduction therefore did not emerge any earlier within the single modality of vision than across modalities in previous studies (9, 10).”
From Fusion of visual cues is not mandatory in children (2010) · cites this paper as [9]
The ability to reduce uncertainty by integrating information within a single modality does not necessarily develop any earlier than between modalities.
“Therefore, the ability to reduce uncertainty by integrating information within a single modality does not necessarily develop any earlier than between modalities (9, 10).”
From Fusion of visual cues is not mandatory in children (2010) · cites this paper as [9]
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- Authors
- Nardini, M., Jones, P., Bedford, R., & Braddick, O.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Venue
- Current Biology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2008-05
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 689-693
- ISSN
- 0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2079810237
- Cited by
- 431
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 38.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ (vor, 1903 d)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-017 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-037 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-012 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-029 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-004 (stm-asf)
- Locations
- Current Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/F017154/1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Keywords
- cue integration, spatial navigation, visual landmarks, self-motion cues, vestibular cues, proprioception, weighted averaging, spatial representation, response variance
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Cues, Female, Humans, Locomotion, Male, Models, Biological, Orientation, Proprioception, Space Perception, Vestibule, Labyrinth
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