The estimation of factors influencing on the difficulty of mazes for human

Abstract

Several studies have been reported on maze tasks for rats. However, few studies have focused on maze tasks for human. The purpose of this study is to investigate factors influencing on the difficulty of mazes for human.We conducted an experiment. Subjects search for a goal of mazes by using a computer. Subjects explore mazes for two days. Fifteen mazes are prepared each day. In making mazes, we set the number of steps required to reach the goal and the number of T-junctions from start position to goal position. If a subject can reach the goal three consecutive times without extra steps, the subject moves on to the next maze. The result on first day, the difficulty of mazes is caused by the number of steps and T-junctions to the goal. The result on second day, the difficulty of mazes is caused by number of all T-junctions in the mazes.