Consistently with aging models, our results support the view of aging as a multidimensional and multidirectional stage of life (Baltes & Staudinger, 2000), in which some skills are lost, but there are also strengths that older adults can exploit to cope with their loss (Baltes & Baltes, 1990). One such strength concerns their in- dividual visuo-spatial skills: even though they decline with aging, these abilities have an important role in supporting environment representation, especially when tested in terms of the active management of spatial information tasks. The present study find- ings can thus be interpreted in the light of what we know about both spatial cognition and aging.
To conclude, not all is lost for older people when it comes to route learning, and individual visuo-spatial abilities particularly support performance in demanding spatial tasks.