When was the last time you picked up a paper map? Some members of younger generations said it was “never.”

Five college roommates from SUNY Geneseo - Reanna Tierney, Sam Schoenhardt, Ella Rung, Eva Eichenlaub and Leah Polk - put their skills to the test at the five-acre corn maze at The Great Pumpkin Farm in Clarence.

To the question, “what’s your strategy,” Tierney answered “the sun.” Their trek began around noon.

The group downloaded the digital map of the maze and set off to find their way out. 

After several 180s and finding their way back at the entrance, Rung pulled out a compass on her phone and they started to make some progress.

As it turns out, associate professor of psychology at SUNY Geneseo Jason Ozubko said getting lost can be good for us.

“If you get lost, it's not always a bad thing. That's like a learning moment…In the future, you'll remember that was a wrong turn because it will stand out, you’ll remember you got lost,” he explained.

Ozubko studies spatial memory and said research has shown that people who spend more time playing video games tend to have better memory regarding their surroundings.

“It's the kids playing games where they have to hunt each other or get through a maze, or like get through a dungeon where they're the ones who now are learning how to read those maps and plan routes and things like that,” he said.

After about 30 minutes of questioning one another’s intuition, the group successfully found their way out of the maze.

They said the experience probably will not influence them to learn how to use maps better, but they did learn how to lean on some key strategies like finding landmarks in the distance.