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The effects of risk magnitude training on mapping risks on space

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Abstract

Risk perception has recently been shown to reveal a mental spatial representation, with people responding faster to low-risk items on the left side, and high-risk items on the right side. Subjective risk perception has a stronger spatial representation than objective risk perception; however, both reveal small effect sizes. With risk magnitude being a new domain within spatial mapping literature, we sought to explore its nuances. Following discussion surrounding the relationship between spatial mapping and level of expertise, this study investigated the effect of training an objective risk magnitude sequence on mental spatial representations. Participants (n = 34) used their left and right hands to indicate whether eight risk stimuli were lower or higher risk than a referent activity, both before and after training. Training involved repetitively learning the objectively correct order of the same eight risk stimuli for approximately 15 min. Pre-training results demonstrated the expected spatial representations. Contrary to our predictions, the spatial representation did not get stronger post-training, but instead disappeared. Previous research has demonstrated a loss of spatial-numerical mappings with increased task load. An increase in post-training reaction times could reflect an increase in task load due to a lack of adequate knowledge of risk stimulus order; thus revealing no mental spatial representation. However, failure to find training effects highlights the flexibility of weaker spatial representations, and supports research demonstrating spatial representation flexibility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia

    Erica S. Ghezzi, Tobias Loetscher, Anne Macnamara & Hannah A. D. Keage

Authors
  1. Erica S. Ghezzi
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  2. Tobias Loetscher
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  3. Anne Macnamara
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  4. Hannah A. D. Keage
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Correspondence to Erica S. Ghezzi.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 3.

Table 3 Average reaction times (ms) for side of response by magnitude at each session for each model
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Appendix 2

See Table 4.

Table 4 Average reaction times (ms) for distance position at each session
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Appendix 3

See Table 5.

Table 5 Results of pre-training objective risk linear mixed-effects models excluding individual risk stimuli
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Ghezzi, E.S., Loetscher, T., Macnamara, A. et al. The effects of risk magnitude training on mapping risks on space. Exp Brain Res 237, 2789–2798 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-019-05632-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-019-05632-w

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