Does psychological type influence perception and memory of mental representations when exploring a virtual environment?

Abstract

Research has examined the impact of personality traits on the memory of environments. To date, the influence of psychological type on the memory of environments has not been examined. The aim of the research was to examine whether psychological type influences an individual’s attention and memory of landmarks when exploring a novel virtual environment. In addition, the study also investigates explanations for recall, whether this differs among psychological types and how these explanations provide further understanding of the free recall results and ranked reasons for recall. A self-selected volunteer sample of 93 individuals was recruited. Ethical approval was granted and is in adherence with the British Psychological Society’s Code of Ethics and Conduct. A mixed method quasi-experimental design was employed to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the research question. The study consisted of multiple phases which included an exploration and eye-tracking phase within a virtual desktop environment, a free recall and recognition memory phase with ranked and open-ended questions, and a psychological type measure was administered. There were no statistically significant differences identified between each level of psychological type and the revisits to landmarks, or landmark gist, perceptual and conceptual detail recall measures. The ranked explanation results demonstrated similarities and differences in the factors that different types ranked as reasons for recall. Similarities and differences were also found within the qualitative findings between types. The findings contribute to psychological type literature and are discussed with regards to factors that influence memory and attention of landmark objects in relation to Psychological Type theory. In addition, the implications of the mixed methods quasi-experimental design are discussed, along with limitations and contribution to knowledge.