New publication in Computers in Human Behavior Reports: Psychometric data and regression-based norms for the virtual environments navigation assessment for young and middle-aged adults (VIENNA Young)
VIENNA Young is a 16-minute, passive virtual-environment paradigm expressly developed to examine visuospatial and executive aspects of spatial navigation while minimizing episodic-memory demands. The assessment runs locally (Python/PsychoPy) or remotely (web-based). In a hybrid onsite/online study of 422 healthy adults (18–67 years) VIENNA Young showed strong reliability and construct validity. We provide a flexible regression-based norming framework that lets users select the most appropriate reference cohort by adjusting for age, gender and video-gaming experience.
The study yields two substantive insights:
• Gaming phenotype: Even without controller interaction, gamers outperformed non-gamers, and the advantage was especially pronounced in regular players of allocentric (top-down) games, but not in egocentric gamers, indicating that beyond mere exposure, gaming style shapes spatial skill.
• Urban–rural dynamics: Unexpectedly, current city residents scored higher than rural residents, yet controlling for current residency, individuals raised in rural settings achieved higher VIENNA Young scores. This interaction hints at nuanced interplay of environmental and sociodemographic factors that merit further investigation.
By combining rigorous psychometrics, flexible administration options and fine-grained normative modelling, VIENNA Young provides researchers with an accessible and scalable tool for evaluating everyday spatial navigation performance in research in clinical settings.
Reference:
Rekers, S., Meyer, T. C., & Finke, C. (2025). Psychometric data and regression-based norms for the virtual environments navigation assessment for young and middle-aged adults (VIENNA Young). Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 19, 100730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2025.100730 [pdf]