Three experiments examined whether three factors (view of external targets, colored wall cues, previous exploration of room) facilitate orientation within a virtual building and whether the interaction between the first two factors align with predictions from associative learning. Participants were teleported into a virtual room and asked to face in the direction of an external occluded target using all, none, or a combination of these factors. Experiment 1 (n = 62) showed all 3 factors individually improved orientation. Experiment 2 (n = 28) illustrated that the interaction between external targets and colored wall cues was similar to an associative learning phenomenon, where more salient cues inhibit learning about less salient cues (called overshadowing). Previous research suggests salience of spatial cues can be moderated by familiarity with the cues. In both Experiment 1 and 2, participants were familiar with the external targets but not the colored wall cues. Experiment 3 (n = 92) manipulated familiarity with the external targets and found that when participants were not familiar with the external targets, they became overshadowed by colored wall cues. The results are a novel demonstration that spatial cues within a nested environment interact in a way predicted by associative learning.

中文翻译：

---

嵌套虚拟环境中方向提示的交互

三项实验检验了三个因素（外部目标的视图、彩色墙壁线索、之前对房间的探索）是否有助于虚拟建筑内的定向，以及前两个因素之间的相互作用是否与联想学习的预测一致。参与者被传送到一个虚拟房间，并要求使用所有这些因素、不使用这些因素或组合使用这些因素，面向外部遮挡目标的方向。实验 1（n = 62）显示所有 3 个因素均单独改善了方向性。实验 2（n = 28）表明，外部目标和彩色墙壁线索之间的相互作用类似于联想学习现象，其中更显着的线索会抑制学习不太显着的线索（称为遮蔽）。先前的研究表明，空间线索的显着性可以通过对线索的熟悉程度来调节。在实验 1 和 2 中，参与者熟悉外部目标，但不熟悉彩色墙壁线索。实验 3（n = 92）控制了对外部目标的熟悉程度，发现当参与者不熟悉外部目标时，他们会被彩色墙壁提示所掩盖。结果新颖地证明了嵌套环境中的空间线索以联想学习预测的方式相互作用。