Errorless learning of novel routes through a virtual town in people with acquired brain injury

J Lloyd, Gerard Riley, Theresa Powell*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Impaired route learning is a common consequence of acquired brain injury (ABI) but has received little attention in the research literature. Errorless learning may be a method of facilitating the learning of routes but this is unclear as previous studies of errorless learning have focused mainly on verbal skills and the only previous study involving route learning was based upon a pencil and paper task. In the present study we therefore use virtual reality to explore the benefits of errorless learning for routes in an ecologically valid task. Twenty people with acquired brain injury learned two routes, of equivalent difficulty, around a virtual town based upon the city of Nice. For one route, full guidance was provided throughout the learning trials in an errorless learning paradigm; the other route was learned using a procedure that allowed for trial and error. Route recall following the errorless learning condition was significantly more accurate than recall after errorful learning. This suggests that the benefits of errorless over errorful learning in acquired brain injury rehabilitation extend beyond verbal learning tasks to the practical task of route memorisation.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)98-109
Number of pages12
JournalNeuropsychological Rehabilitation
Volume19
Issue number1
Early online date18 Dec 2008
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2009

Keywords

  • Errorless learning
  • Memory impairment
  • Wayfinding

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Errorless learning of novel routes through a virtual town in people with acquired brain injury'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this