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The Development of Spatial Representations of Large-Scale Environments
Abstract
A series of neurological and philosophical discussions has led to suggestions that space is a model of the environment, constructed from the temporal integration of successive perceptions, which model man as neurologically disposed to create and organize. The model is coordinated to social conventions. It develops and is vulnerable to dissolution. Studies of adults' knowledge about their macroenvironment suggest that human “maps” are not literally maps. Rather, they tend to be fragmented, distorted projectively, and are often several multiple “mini-spatial-representations.” Landmarks and routes are the minimal elements of spatial representation. Survey-representations incorporate configurational elements (outlines, graphic skeletons, figurative metaphors) and may be the final derivative of dense, richly interconnected, and hierarchically organized route maps. The notion of “main sequences” was introduced as a potential explanation for the extensive parallelisms identified among ontogenesis, microgenesis, the course of pathology, and the recovery of function following pathological insult. The development of the sequence of spatial representations in children conforms to the “main sequence” identified in the construction of spatial representation in adults.
... O reconhecimento de pontos de referência parece basear-se na identificação de características proeminentes do ambiente em que a sua localização poderá estar associada a uma indicação que serve como um marcador para uma acção (por exemplo ao chegar aos semáforos virar à esquerda, sendo os "semáforos" o ponto de referência e a indicação associada o "virar à esquerda"). Os pontos de referência permitem o reconhecimento de locais e têm sido identificados como o primeiro tipo de conhecimento espacial adquirido durante o neurodesenvolvimento (Piaget (1960) in Aguirre and D'Esposito 1999) e são definidos por Siegel & White (1975) como "configurações únicas de eventos perceptuais". A interpretação de um objecto como um ponto de referência ainda é motivo de debate na comunidade científica, onde parece haver uma subjectividade mediada pelo indivíduo, contudo, numa perspectiva geral a saliência perceptiva em relação ao meio envolvente parece ser uma condição quase transversal (Winter et al, 2005). ...
... O conhecimento de rota parece ser um conceito um pouco mais claro porque durante a aprendizagem de um percurso, entende-se haver a formação de um conjunto de associações entre lugares e acções que permitem ao indivíduo seguir um caminho conhecido de um ponto para outro. Durante este percurso poderão estar associados vários pontos de referência (Burgess, 2006;Siegel & White, 1975). ...
... Este conhecimento de configuração integra uma relação métrica e angular entre locais e é o que permite formulação de atalhos entre locais (Burgess, 2006;Siegel & White, 1975). ...
... For instance, in the above example, a landmark could be a unique building with a characteristic facade. Given their role as visual cues, landmarks hold high practical importance for human wayfinding and spatial knowledge acquisition (Couclelis et al., 1987;Raubal & Winter, 2002;Richter & Winter, 2014;Siegel & White, 1975;Sorrows & Hirtle, 1999). ...
... Landmarks' omission from current mobile maps might be one reason why these navigation aids are often found to inhibit spa-1.1 Motivation and problem statement tial learning (Dahmani & Bohbot, 2020;Ishikawa et al., 2008;Löwen et al., 2019;Ruginski et al., 2019). Current mobile navigation aids do not provide what is needed to acquire spatial knowledge during navigation (Ishikawa, 2018); they seem to shift users' attention away from the environment and task-relevant landmarks Gardony et al., 2015), thereby compromising wayfinders' ability to incorporate landmarks into spatial learning (Dahmani & Bohbot, 2020;Ishikawa, 2018;Siegel & White, 1975). As a result, there have been many design recommendations for integrating landmarks into future mobile maps for effective communication to pedestrian navigators (Raubal & Winter, 2002;Richter & Winter, 2014;Thrash et al., 2019;Yesiltepe et al., 2021). ...
... However, there is still considerable debate in the psychological literature about whether humans rely on cognitive maps or snapshot memories of locations for wayfinding (Foo et al., 2005;Tversky, 1993Tversky, , 1981Warren et al., 2017). In addition, the spatial representation of the environment is typically fragmented and distorted; it is represented as several separate bodies of knowledge about smaller chunks of the environment (Downs & Stea, 2011;Siegel & White, 1975). To account for this, Siegel and White (1975) proposed a framework in which environmental knowledge is developed over time through three distinct types of spatial knowledge, which we will discuss in the next subsection. ...
Even though they are day-to-day activities, humans find navigation and wayfinding to be cognitively challenging. To facilitate their everyday mobility, humans increasingly rely on ubiquitous mobile maps as navigation aids. However, the over-reliance on and habitual use of omnipresent navigation aids deteriorate humans' short-term ability to learn new information about their surroundings and induces a long-term decline in spatial skills. This deterioration in spatial learning is attributed to the fact that these aids capture users' attention and cause them to enter a passive navigation mode. Another factor that limits spatial learning during map-aided navigation is the lack of salient landmark information on mobile maps.
Prior research has already demonstrated that wayfinders rely on landmarks—geographic features that stand out from their surroundings—to facilitate navigation and build a spatial representation of the environments they traverse. Landmarks serve as anchor points and help wayfinders to visually match the spatial information depicted on the mobile map with the information collected during the active exploration of the environment. Considering the acknowledged significance of landmarks for human wayfinding due to their visibility and saliency, this thesis investigates an open research question: how to graphically communicate landmarks on mobile map aids to cue wayfinders' allocation of attentional resources to these task-relevant environmental features. From a cartographic design perspective, landmarks can be depicted on mobile map aids on a graphical continuum ranging from abstract 2D text labels to realistic 3D buildings with high visual fidelity. Based on the importance of landmarks for human wayfinding and the rich cartographic body of research concerning their depiction on mobile maps, this thesis investigated how various landmark visualization styles affect the navigation process of two user groups (expert and general wayfinders) in different navigation use contexts (emergency and general navigation tasks). Specifically, I conducted two real-world map-aided navigation studies to assess the influence of various landmark visualization styles on wayfinders' navigation performance, spatial learning, allocation of visual attention, and cognitive load.
In Study I, I investigated how depicting landmarks as abstract 2D building footprints or realistic 3D buildings on the mobile map affected expert wayfinders' navigation performance, visual attention, spatial learning, and cognitive load during an emergency navigation task. I asked expert navigators recruited from the Swiss Armed Forces to follow a predefined route using a mobile map depicting landmarks as either abstract 2D building footprints or realistic 3D buildings and to identify the depicted task-relevant landmarks in the environment. I recorded the experts' gaze behavior with a mobile eye-tracer and their cognitive load with EEG during the navigation task, and I captured their incidental spatial learning at the end of the task. The wayfinding experts' exhibited high navigation performance and low cognitive load during the map-aided navigation task regardless of the landmark visualization style. Their gaze behavior revealed that wayfinding experts navigating with realistic 3D landmarks focused more on the visualizations of landmarks on the mobile map than those who navigated with abstract 2D landmarks, while the latter focused more on the depicted route. Furthermore, when the experts focused for longer on the environment and the landmarks, their spatial learning improved regardless of the landmark visualization style. I also found that the spatial learning of experts with self-reported low spatial abilities improved when they navigated with landmarks depicted as realistic 3D buildings.
In Study II, I investigated the influence of abstract and realistic 3D landmark visualization styles on wayfinders sampled from the general population. As in Study I, I investigated wayfinders' navigation performance, visual attention, spatial learning, and cognitive load. In contrast to Study I, the participants in Study II were exposed to both landmark visualization styles in a navigation context that mimics everyday navigation. Furthermore, the participants were informed that their spatial knowledge of the environment would be tested after navigation. As in Study I, the wayfinders in Study II exhibited high navigation performance and low cognitive load regardless of the landmark visualization style. Their visual attention revealed that wayfinders with low spatial abilities and wayfinders familiar with the study area fixated on the environment longer when they navigated with realistic 3D landmarks on the mobile map. Spatial learning improved when wayfinders with low spatial abilities were assisted by realistic 3D landmarks. Also, when wayfinders were assisted by realistic 3D landmarks and paid less attention to the map aid, their spatial learning improved.
Taken together, the present real-world navigation studies provide ecologically valid results on the influence of various landmark visualization styles on wayfinders. In particular, the studies demonstrate how visualization style modulates wayfinders' visual attention and facilitates spatial learning across various user groups and navigation use contexts. Furthermore, the results of both studies highlight the importance of individual differences in spatial abilities as predictors of spatial learning during map-assisted navigation. Based on these findings, the present work provides design recommendations for future mobile maps that go beyond the traditional concept of "one fits all." Indeed, the studies support the cause for landmark depiction that directs individual wayfinders' visual attention to task-relevant landmarks to further enhance spatial learning. This would be especially helpful for users with low spatial skills. In doing so, future mobile maps could dynamically adapt the visualization style of landmarks according to wayfinders' spatial abilities for cued visual attention, thus meeting individuals' spatial learning needs.
... One challenge to studying internal cognitive maps is having accurate ways to measure them. The long-dominant framework for understanding spatial knowledge has suggested that it can be organized into landmark knowledge, route knowledge and survey or configuration knowledge (Siegel & White, 1975). Landmark knowledge includes information about salient or target locations, but without reference to their spatial locations. ...
... It is, however, important to note that alternative conceptions of the structure and developmental course of spatial knowledge have been proposed. For example, Montello (1998) proposed a framework for understanding spatial knowledge that differed in a few important ways from the dominant framework proposed by Siegel and White (1975). While Montello does not disagree that there may be three types of spatial knowledge, he suggests that all three types of knowledge may be acquired simultaneously, rather than sequentially. ...
... In the case of using maps, they have been shown to have a positive impact on our ability to navigate both in real life navigation scenarios (e.g., Ishikawa et al., 2008;Münzer et al., 2012) and when navigating in VEs (e.g., Gardony et al., 2013;Münzer et al., 2020). Further, combining navigationbased and map-based information has been shown to support the development of good-quality mental representations (Siegel & White, 1975). Language can also be used to provide information about space (Denis et al., 1999), and some studies have compared various kinds of verbal instructions, e.g., the effectiveness of mentioning cardinal points (e.g., "to the north") (Hund & Minarik, 2006;Saucier et al., 2002). ...
External representations powerfully support and augment complex human behavior. When navigating, people often consult external representations to help them find the way to go, but do maps or verbal instructions improve spatial knowledge or support effective wayfinding? Here, we examine spatial knowledge with and without external representations in two studies where participants learn a complex virtual environment. In the first study, we asked participants to generate their own maps or verbal instructions, partway through learning. We found no evidence of improved spatial knowledge in a pointing task requiring participants to infer the direction between two targets, either on the same route or on different routes, and no differences between groups in accurately recreating a map of the target landmarks. However, as a methodological note, pointing was correlated with the accuracy of the maps that participants drew. In the second study, participants had access to an accurate map or set of verbal instructions that they could study while learning the layout of target landmarks. Again, we found no evidence of differentially improved spatial knowledge in the pointing task, although we did find that the map group could recreate a map of the target landmarks more accurately. However, overall improvement was high. There was evidence that the nature of improvement across all conditions was specific to initial navigation ability levels. Our findings add to a mixed literature on the role of external representations for navigation and suggest that more substantial intervention—more scaffolding, explicit training, enhanced visualization, perhaps with personalized sequencing—may be necessary to improve navigation ability.
... However, the integration of different frames of reference into memory and the acquisition of spatial knowledge has been a point of dispute. Early research suggested spatial knowledge acquisition to be a bottom-up sequential process, progressing gradually from an initial egocentric and rudimentary state to a higher-order allocentric representation (Siegel and White, 1975). According to this sequential framework, spatial knowledge acquisition progresses in specific discrete stages that cannot be mixed or reordered. ...
... Two major frameworks have been used to explain these aspects of spatial knowledge acquisition. Siegel and White(1975) suggested that the mental spatial representation of a new environment develops along three sequential stages. This idea, often referred to as the sequential theory, originates in Piaget's theory of cognitive development and research on spatial cognition in children (Siegel and White, 1975;Piaget, 2013). ...
... Siegel and White(1975) suggested that the mental spatial representation of a new environment develops along three sequential stages. This idea, often referred to as the sequential theory, originates in Piaget's theory of cognitive development and research on spatial cognition in children (Siegel and White, 1975;Piaget, 2013). According to this theory, spatial knowledge acquisition progresses from the initial stage of landmark knowledge to route knowledge and finally survey knowledge. ...
Digital maps on personal devices (e.g., phones) are common tools used to aid navigation. Different types of digital maps can influence spatial knowledge acquisition, and this effect might depend on whether the user interacts with an forward-up or north-up map. In spatial cognition theory, these differences can be used to support either sequential or continuous theories of spatial knowledge acquisition. To test these hypotheses, we compared spatial learning of participants (N = 67) after navigation in a virtual city with either a forward-up map, a north-up map, or a guiding arrow (i.e., a control) as a navigation aid. Critically, participants were tested on landmark recognition tasks and judgments of relative direction (JRDs) after each of four navigation blocks. We also examined mental workload during map usage using eye tracking in terms of the distributions of fixations on the maps. The results indicated that, regardless of navigation aid, participants improved on both landmark recognition and JRD tasks over blocks of trials. In addition, we found an interaction between block and navigation aid. This interaction suggests that participants in the forward-up map group initially produced more JRD errors than the north-up map group but that the two groups performed similarly in later blocks as they became more familiar with the environment. These findings are consistent with the eye-tracking data, which suggested a decrease in mental workload as evidenced by an increase in fixation distributions over blocks of trials. Together, these results suggest that participants with any of these navigation aids perform similarly on some tasks (sup-porting sequential theory), although the time course of learning may differ between map types (supporting continuous theory).
... Spatial knowledge is usually acquired through direct interaction with the environment but can be facilitated through the use of indirect sources such as cartographic maps [10][11][12][13]. To this end, humans combine spatial knowledge acquired from direct experience using an egocentric spatial reference frame [14][15][16] with spatial knowledge acquired through an allocentric reference frame [11,13,17]. During the acquisition of spatial knowledge in a previously unknown environment, people usually first learn the locations of landmarks and connecting routes in terms of left-and right-turn combinations [13,16,[18][19][20]. ...
... To this end, humans combine spatial knowledge acquired from direct experience using an egocentric spatial reference frame [14][15][16] with spatial knowledge acquired through an allocentric reference frame [11,13,17]. During the acquisition of spatial knowledge in a previously unknown environment, people usually first learn the locations of landmarks and connecting routes in terms of left-and right-turn combinations [13,16,[18][19][20]. Based on the combination of spatial knowledge acquired from direct experience and additional knowledge from indirect sources, action-relevant representations [3,21] of the environment can be shaped into an organized structure that contains information about the distance and distribution of objects in space [10][11][12]. ...
... Based on the combination of spatial knowledge acquired from direct experience and additional knowledge from indirect sources, action-relevant representations [3,21] of the environment can be shaped into an organized structure that contains information about the distance and distribution of objects in space [10][11][12]. This process is often referred to as the acquisition of survey knowledge [13,16]. Spatial knowledge acquisition is a multisensory process involving vision, smell, sound, and the vestibular sense [22][23][24][25][26]. ...
Sensory augmentation provides novel opportunities to broaden our knowledge of human perception through external sensors that record and transmit information beyond natural perception. To assess whether such augmented senses affect the acquisition of spatial knowledge during navigation, we trained a group of 27 participants for six weeks with an augmented sense for cardinal directions called the feelSpace belt. Then, we recruited a control group that did not receive the augmented sense and the corresponding training. All 53 participants first explored the Westbrook virtual reality environment for two and a half hours spread over five sessions before assessing their spatial knowledge in four immersive virtual reality tasks measuring cardinal, route, and survey knowledge. We found that the belt group acquired significantly more accurate cardinal and survey knowledge, which was measured in pointing accuracy, distance, and rotation estimates. Interestingly, the augmented sense also positively affected route knowledge, although to a lesser degree. Finally, the belt group reported a significant increase in the use of spatial strategies after training, while the groups’ ratings were comparable at baseline. The results suggest that six weeks of training with the feelSpace belt led to improved survey and route knowledge acquisition. Moreover, the findings of our study could inform the development of assistive technologies for individuals with visual or navigational impairments, which may lead to enhanced navigation skills and quality of life.
... Navigation is a fundamental human behavior that is essential for daily life. During the navigation process, people gradually form cognitive maps [84] by actively interacting with their environments, comprehending current locations, and making spatial decisions. In recent years, human navigation has undergone dramatic changes with the arrival of GPS navigation systems. ...
... A popular theory about how people learn and encode spatial knowledge for purposes of navigation proposes that knowledge is developed in three main forms [84], although it is now understood that formation of these types of knowledge is not necessarily sequential [67]. These are landmarks (i.e., external reference points as mentioned in 2.2), routes (i.e., a sequence of landmarks and locations that comprise a navigable path), and survey knowledge. ...
... However, in reality, when people provide directions to others for navigation, they often refer to landmarks and crucial decision points [53,92]. Landmarks are salient external reference points that can serve as key spatial cues to help people orient themselves [84]. Considerable existing research has recognized the critical role played by landmarks for human navigation [93]. ...
Daily travel usually demands navigation on foot across a variety of different application domains, including tasks like search and rescue or commuting. Head-mounted augmented reality (AR) displays provide a preview of future navigation systems on foot, but designing them is still an open problem. In this paper, we look at two choices that such AR systems can make for navigation: 1) whether to denote landmarks with AR cues and 2) how to convey navigation instructions. Specifically, instructions can be given via a head-referenced display (screen-fixed frame of reference) or by giving directions fixed to global positions in the world (world-fixed frame of reference). Given limitations with the tracking stability, field of view, and brightness of most currently available head-mounted AR displays for lengthy routes outdoors, we decided to simulate these conditions in virtual reality. In the current study, participants navigated an urban virtual environment and their spatial knowledge acquisition was assessed. We experimented with whether or not landmarks in the environment were cued, as well as how navigation instructions were displayed (i.e., via screen-fixed or world-fixed directions). We found that the world-fixed frame of reference resulted in better spatial learning when there were no landmarks cued; adding AR landmark cues marginally improved spatial learning in the screen-fixed condition. These benefits in learning were also correlated with participants' reported sense of direction. Our findings have implications for the design of future cognition-driven navigation systems.
... The latter hypothesis is based on the consideration that higher-level representations (i.e., map-based allocentric navigation, semantic memory) largely derive from their respective lower-level counterparts (i.e., self-based egocentric navigation, episodic memory). Specifically, allocentric maps are based on repeated self-based explorations of the environment (Lever, Wills, Cacucci, Burgess, & O'Keefe, 2002;Siegel & White, 1975). In a similar vein, semantic knowledge is progressively acquired through the repeated encoding of similar information by the episodic memory system (Eichenbaum et al., 1999;Moscovitch et al., 2005). ...
... allocentric navigation and semantic memory largely derive from their respective lower-level counterparts, respectively self-based egocentric navigation and episodic memory (Eichenbaum & Cohen, 2014). In other words, as repeated self-based exploration allows the construction of allocentric maps (Lever et al., 2002;McNaughton et al., 2006aMcNaughton et al., , 2006bSiegel & White, 1975), repetition of similar episodes allows the development of semantic knowledge (Cermak, 1984;Eichenbaum et al., 1999; Moscovitch, Cabeza, Winocur, & Nadel, 2016). ...
... We designed our task based on a realistic scenario of human place description, relying on people's memory of the world, rather than, e.g., using a map (Anderson et al., 1991;Paz-Argaman and Tsarfaty, 2019). Crucially, relying on environmental cognition results in various levels of geospatial knowledge (Siegel and White, 1975) that are manifested in the descriptions and the geospatial reasoning that is required to resolve their location (Hayward and Tarr, 1995). To avoid the much simpler task of grounding proper named entities, we explicitly restricted the use of proper names in the description of the place and adjacent landmarks. ...
... Table 1 shows an analysis of the linguistic phenomena manifested in the HeGeL dataset, demonstrating the spatial knowledge and reasoning skills required for solving the HeGeL task. We analyzed the frequency of the five types of elements in a city defined by Lynch (1960), along with the three types of spatial knowledge defined in Siegel and White (1975), and other spatial properties. The frequent use of cardinal directions, as well as the use of sur- vey knowledge, suggests that any NLP model built to deal with the HeGeL task should not only represent a local view of the goal, or possible routes, but also take into consideration the full region, and mimic people's map-like view of the environment. ...
The task of textual geolocation - retrieving the coordinates of a place based on a free-form language description - calls for not only grounding but also natural language understanding and geospatial reasoning. Even though there are quite a few datasets in English used for geolocation, they are currently based on open-source data (Wikipedia and Twitter), where the location of the described place is mostly implicit, such that the location retrieval resolution is limited. Furthermore, there are no datasets available for addressing the problem of textual geolocation in morphologically rich and resource-poor languages, such as Hebrew. In this paper, we present the Hebrew Geo-Location (HeGeL) corpus, designed to collect literal place descriptions and analyze lingual geospatial reasoning. We crowdsourced 5,649 literal Hebrew place descriptions of various place types in three cities in Israel. Qualitative and empirical analysis show that the data exhibits abundant use of geospatial reasoning and requires a novel environmental representation.
... For several years, researchers have been interested in how to integrate landmarks into the design of navigation systems. It is considered that landmark-based navigation systems can help improve the user's knowledge of the environment during wayfinding tasks [18]. Work from Montello [19] showed that landmarks are salient entities in the environment, and they can help improve the user's survey knowledge during wayfinding tasks: the representation of knowledge about a specific location goes progressively from knowing landmarks, then paths, and finally to a global survey knowledge. ...
... Traditional navigation aid systems are known for being less efficient when it comes to spatial knowledge acquisition. This paper aimed to explore the use of landmark-based assistance, as stated by other researchers [18,43], and determine its benefit for memorising paths and survey knowledge. Its objective was to investigate AR glasses and smartphones for pedestrian navigation and their effects on spatial knowledge acquisition. ...
Smartphone map-based pedestrian navigation is known to have a negative effect on the long-term acquisition of spatial knowledge and memorisation of landmarks. Landmark-based navigation has been proposed as an approach that can overcome such limitations. In this work, we investigate how different interaction technologies, namely smartphones and augmented reality (AR) glasses, can affect the acquisition of spatial knowledge when used to support landmark-based pedestrian navigation. We conducted a study involving 20 participants, using smartphones or augmented reality glasses for pedestrian navigation. We studied the effects of these systems on landmark memorisation and spatial knowledge acquisition over a period of time. Our results show statistically significant differences in spatial knowledge acquisition between the two technologies, with the augmented reality glasses enabling better memorisation of landmarks and paths.
... There has been much published research in geography (Golledge, 1988;, psychology Siegel and White, 1975;Tolman, 1948;Trowbridge, 1913), computer science , cognitive science and environmental behavior studies that is concerned with how people acquire spatial knowledge. Though this large body of literature is rich in information as to how humans acquire and operationalize information about their environment, it has remained relatively untapped by VNA developers. ...
... Some suggest only two kinds, while others more commonly purport three, possibly more. To further complicate this domain, the terminology used to label these different kinds of spatial knowledge vary from model to model: Trowbridge (1913) uses ego-centric and domi-centric knowledge; Tolman (1943) uses strip map and comprehensive map knowledge; Piaget and Inhelder (1956) use topological, projective, and Euclidean knowledge;Shemyakin (1962) uses route and survey knowledge; Siegel and White (1975) use landmark, route, and configurational knowledge; uses sensorimotor, topological, and metrical knowledge; Thomdyke and Hayes-Roth (1982) use procedural and survey knowledge; Golledge (1988) uses declarative, procedural, and configurational knowledge; use landmark, route, and survey knowledge; Freundschuh (this paper) uses landmark, procedural, network, and map-like knowledge (see figure 1). It is interesting to note that though these knowledge type names vary between models, the definitions of the spatial knowledge types across models are very similar. ...
This report highlights a trio of research papers presented at the First Vehicle Navigation and Information System Conference (VNIS ’89), in Toronto, Canada on September 11-13, 1989. The conference was sponsored by the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, and Transport Canada. A major goal of the conference, according to General Chairman Rye Case, was to “encourage interaction between the diverse communities which have an interest in vehicle navigation aids". Together for two days in one hotel were cellular phone vendors, automotive engineers, cartographers, GIS specialists, and highway administrators among others, providing a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange of ideas regarding vehicle navigation systems. The conference consisted of fifteen paper sessions, including Programs and Policy, System and Technology Evaluation, Driver Response to Real-time Traffic Information, Digital Maps and Geographic Information Systems, Traffic Management Applications, and Human Factors. The papers reproduced here are intended to assist others in the study of human navigation, navigation systems, or spatial cognition in general. Their content is essentially the same as in the conference proceedings, although a few minor changes and corrections have been made, and the papers have been re-formatted and re-paginated.
... Although previous research has revealed that humans' spatial memory may be altered from the real environment and with prominent errors, there are competing ideas about how distortions in spatial memory may arise. One idea is that navigation involves a gradual accumulation of idiothetic cues for distance and direction and eventual integration with allothetic landmark cues (O'keefe & Nadel, 1978;Siegel & White, 1975). For example, O' Keefe and Nadel (1978) described the process of "exploration" as fundamental to establishing direction and . ...
... Similarly, Siegel and White (1975) discussed the idea of route information, which involves turns and distances, as coming before integration with landmarks and a schematic "map" can be established. These, and later models, postulate that self-movement (idiothetic) cues provide information about direction and distance for the formation of the cognitive map with landmarks providing a means of correction once the map is established through sufficient exploration (McNaughton et al., 2006;Redish & Ekstrom, 2013). ...
Previous research has demonstrated that humans combine multiple sources of spatial information, such as allothetic and idiothetic cues, while navigating through an environment. However, it is unclear whether this involves comparing multiple representations from multiple sources during encoding (parallel hypothesis) or primarily accumulating idiothetic information until the end of the navigation to integrate with allothetic information (serial hypothesis). We tested these two hypotheses in an active navigation task using mobile scalp EEG recordings. Participants walked through an immersive virtual hallway with or without conflicts between allothetic and idiothetic cues and pointed toward the starting position of the hallway. By analyzing the scalp oscillatory activities during the navigation phase, we found that path segments including memory anchors -- such as path intersections -- were more strongly associated with the pointing error, regardless of when they appeared during encoding. This indicates that the integration of spatial information of a walked path likely begins in the early stages of navigation rather in late stages alone, supporting the parallel hypothesis. Furthermore, theta oscillations in frontal-midline regions during active navigation were related to memory of the path rather than only movement through the path, supporting a mnemonic role of theta oscillations.
... The types of knowledge used are varied and include the following: declarative knowledge, which is non-spatial knowledge of locations and landmarks; procedural knowledge about the sequence of turns and methods used to get from one place to another; topological knowledge about the location of navigation routes and how they are interconnected; and spatial knowledge about the arrangement of locations in space, as in a map view (2). In one of the earliest influential theories, Seigel and White (1975) proposed that knowledge is acquired sequentially. First, declarative information about key landmarks is learned; second, procedural knowledge about routes from one place to another is developed; third, a cognitive spatial map is formed. ...
... Neighborhoods are derived from the graph, and information about local distances and angles is not integrated into a geometrically consistent map. In similar research, Chrastil and Warren (2015), study the structure of spatial knowledge that develops spontaneously during free exploration of a new environment. They present evidence that this structure is similar to a labeled graph, in other words, a network of topological connections between places, labeled with local metric information. ...
To date, very few studies in the literature have
examined the similar, overlapping and oppositional features in what is broadly
referred to as “representation(s) of space” and “space(s) of representation.” How
can we better apprehend the complex notion of “mental map?” The question of
memorial transcription? Of “symbolic projection?” Can we identify meeting points
between these two polarities and, if possible, a continuum? Through the notion
of cognitive graph, recent advances in the understanding of brain mechanisms
enable us to approach the distinctions between cognitive map and conceptual
map as an articulated and continuous whole.
... Humans rely on spatial knowledge to maintain a sense of direction while locomoting through different environments and planning routes to goal locations. Environmental spatial knowledge encompasses different kinds of knowledge, including landmark, route, and configural knowledge (McNamara, 2013;Siegel & White, 1975). Configural knowledge is assumed to integrate all spatial information into a globally consistent mental representation. ...
... Examining the differential cognitive demands and individual differences in two tasks can thus inform debates on the nature of configural knowledge. One view is that configural knowledge is metrically accurate and globally consistent (Carpenter et al., 2015;Gallistel, 1990;O'Keefe & Nadel, 1978;Siegel & White, 1975;Tolman, 1948), like a physical or cartographic map. Another view is that configural knowledge is labeled graph knowledge, in which close locations are connected with coarse, local metric information (direction and distance) but not metrically consistent across the whole environment (Chrastil & Warren, 2015;Foo et al., 2005;Warren, 2019). ...
People use environmental knowledge to maintain a sense of direction in daily life. This knowledge is typically measured by having people point to unseen locations (judgments of relative direction) or navigate efficiently in the environment (short-cutting). Some people can estimate directions precisely, while others point randomly. Similarly, some people take shortcuts not experienced during learning, while others mainly follow learned paths. Notably, few studies have directly tested the correlation between pointing and shortcutting performance. We compared pointing and shortcutting in two experiments, one using desktop virtual reality (VR) (N = 57) and one using immersive VR (N = 48). Participants learned a new environment by following a fixed route and were then asked to point to unseen locations and navigate to targets by the shortest path. Par-ticipants' performance was clustered into two groups using K-means clustering. One (lower ability) group pointed randomly and showed low internal consistency across trials in pointing, but were able to find efficient routes, and their pointing and efficiency scores were not correlated. The others (higher ability) pointed precisely, navigated by efficient routes, and their pointing and efficiency scores were correlated. These results suggest that with the same egocentric learning experience, the correlation between pointing and shortcutting depends on participants' learning ability, and internal consistency and discriminating power of the measures. Inconsistency and limited discriminating power can lead to low correlations and mask factors driving human variation. Psychometric properties, largely under-reported in spatial cognition, can advance our understanding of individual differences and cognitive processes for complex spatial tasks.
... Indeed, individuals explore the environment by collecting spatial relationships between landmarks, which implies that it has not yet built an allocentric knowledge of it, hence limiting their representation of space to a predominantly egocentric SRF. Following the model of Siegel and White (1975), individuals will first gain a representation of landmarks, and after some exploration, they will progressively have a representation of the routes between landmarks. These landmarks will act as an anchor to connect between map coordinates (Epstein et al., 2017). ...
... These landmarks will act as an anchor to connect between map coordinates (Epstein et al., 2017). Finally, they will learn the configurations of landmarks and routes with the distances and directions relative to one another, meaning an allocentric representation, composing the cognitive map, which will allow planning a route to a goal destination (Siegel and White, 1975;Epstein et al., 2017). ...
Introduction
The cognitive map is an internal representation of the environment and allows us to navigate through familiar environments. It preserves the distances and directions between landmarks which help us orient ourselves in our surroundings. The aim of our task was to understand the role played by theta waves in the cognitive map and especially how the cognitive map is recalled and how the manipulation of distances and directions occurs within the cognitive map.
Method
In order to investigate the neural correlates of the cognitive map, we used the Cognitive Map Recall Test, in which 33 participants had to estimate distances and directions between familiar landmarks tailored to their own knowledge. We examined the role of theta waves in the cognitive map, as well as the brain regions that generated them. To that aim, we performed electroencephalographic source imaging while focusing on frequency spectral analysis.
Results
We observed increases of theta amplitude in the frontal, temporal, parahippocampal gyri and temporal poles during the recall of the cognitive map. We also found increases of theta amplitude in the temporal pole and retrosplenial cortex during manipulation of directions. Overall, direction processing induces higher theta amplitude than distance processing, especially in the temporal lobe, and higher theta amplitude during recall compared to manipulation, except in the retrosplenial cortex where this pattern was reversed.
Discussion
We reveal the role of theta waves as a marker of directional processing in the retrosplenial cortex and the temporal poles during the manipulation of spatial information. Increases in theta waves in frontal, parahippocampal, temporal and temporal pole regions appear to be markers of working memory and cognitive map recall. Therefore, our Cognitive Map Recall Test could be useful for testing directional difficulties in patients. Our work also shows that there are two distinct parts to the cognitive map test: recall and manipulation of spatial information. This is often considered as two similar processes in the literature, but our work demonstrates that these processes could be different, with theta waves from different brain regions contributing to either recall or manipulation; this should be considered in future studies.
... Successful navigation depends, in part, on cognitive maps, namely, mental representations of the environment, including landmarks and their relative locations [3][4][5] . Three types of knowledge are needed to form/use cognitive maps: (1) Landmark knowledgememory for objects/features in the environment, (2) Route knowledge-memory for directional sequences, such as "right, left, then straight", and (3) Survey knowledge-memory for metric information about the location and estimated distances between landmarks, independent of one's position 6,7 . Survey knowledge particularly helps build a cognitive map of the environment 8 . ...
Which facets of human spatial navigation do sex and menstrual cycle influence? To answer this question, a cross-sectional online study of reproductive age women and men was conducted in which participants were asked to demonstrate and self-report their spatial navigation skills and strategies. Participants self-reported their sex and current menstrual phase [early follicular (EF), late follicular/periovulatory (PO), and mid/late luteal (ML)], and completed a series of questionnaires and tasks measuring self-reported navigation strategy use, topographical memory, cognitive map formation, face recognition, and path integration. We found that sex influenced self-reported use of cognitive map- and scene-based strategies, face recognition, and path integration. Menstrual phase moderated the influence of sex: compared to men, women had better face recognition and worse path integration, but only during the PO phase; PO women were also better at path integration in the presence of a landmark compared to EF + ML women and men. These findings provide evidence that human spatial navigation varies with the menstrual cycle and suggest that sensitivity of the entorhinal cortex and longitudinal axis of the hippocampus to differential hormonal effects may account for this variation.
... Siegel and White used cognitive maps in their study which is "The development of Spatial Representations of Large-Scale Environments". They determined how children represent the large-scale environment (Siegel & White, 1975). In addition, Cousins, Siegel and Maxwell in their study, which is "Wayfinding and cognitive mapping in large-scale environments: A test of a developmental model", used cognitive mapping in primary school children (aged 7, 10, and 13) for determining prominent elements and routes of campus (Cousins, Siegel & Maxwell, 1983). ...
Children's physical and mental activities cause them to show differences in their perception and evaluation of spaces. Correctly designed spaces specifically for the child support the physical and psychological development of the child positively. In addition, children who can establish strong relationships with historical places develop a sense of attachment and belonging to the place, which is also important in the transfer of such places to the coming generations. Capuchin Catholic Church (Giresun Central Children's Library) has an important place in the memory of the city and is the sole example in the region. It is used by children. The present study discusses how children perceive the church. The study aims, on the one hand, to reveal how the church is perceived by children, and, on the other, to examine how the child's perception of space and expression styles change depending on age. To this end, children were made to draw visual representations and these images were converted into numerical data. These data are discussed in terms of the preoperational period and the concrete operational period which takes into account the developmental stages of the child. The study employed observation and mapping methods. It was concluded that the child's perception of space changes depending on age, experience and frequency of use of the space, and historical buildings are important stimuli for the child's perception of space.
... Peu à peu les schèmes sensori-moteurs de l'enfant deviennent assez indépendants de l'action immédiate pour commencer à s'intérioriser en patterns conceptuels. (Shemyakin, 1962;Follini, 1966;Siegel et White, 1975). Appleyard (1970Appleyard ( , 1973, ainsi que d'autres chercheurs, en ont observé l'usage chez les adultes dessinant la carte de Ciudad Guayana. ...
... In terms of representation, most of the sketch maps adopted a bird-eye view, but we also encountered a street view depiction of the environment (see Figure 1H). We also encountered a collage-like sketch map (see Figure 1E), representing three non-integrated routes (to the school and two stores) alongside the detailed depiction of the home residence area, suggesting the co-existence of different types spatial knowledge (Siegel and White, 1975) and supporting the collage metaphor for internal spatial representations of large-scale environments (Tversky, 1993). In total, 484 features were identified in the pre-and post-programme sketch maps, and the final coding scheme included 56 unique semantic codes. ...
This study focuses on spatial knowledge acquisition among Ukrainian children, temporarily displaced as a result of a war and newly arrived in the Netherlands. As part of a place-based citizen science project, we conducted two sketch mapping sessions, one before and one after the project, to explore youth's conceptualization of the environment following a three-month residency in the new city, and to assess the impact of a two-week citizen science project on place discovery. Methodologically, we investigate the semiotics of sketch maps supported by individual interviews, and characterize types of knowledge and experiences reflected in the data. The presented work suggests that the sketch map representations capture the physical, emotional, and social contexts of youth's interaction with the new environment, while place-based citizen science provides an opportunity for direct and indirect spatial knowledge acquisition and enrichment of the city image with new meanings, contributing to place discovery.
... Therefore, various types of knowledge can be obtained after learning through navigation. According to well-established models of navigation (Golledge, 1999;Siegel & White, 1975;Wiener et al., 2009), this knowledge includes: (a) knowledge about points in space (also called landmark knowledge), (b) knowledge about sequences of points or paths (also called route knowledge), and (c) knowledge about areas or the spatial relationships between at least two points (also called survey knowledge). Claessen and van der Ham (2017) recently went beyond this three-factor model (of landmark, route and survey knowledge) to propose a new classification of the spatial domains of knowledge starting from an assessment of individuals with neuropsychological navigation impairments. ...
When learning an environment from virtual navigation people gain knowledge about landmarks, their locations, and the paths that connect them. The present study newly aimed to investigate all these domains of knowledge and how cognitive factors such as visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations might support virtual passive navigation. A total of 270 participants (145 women) were tested online. They: (i) completed visuospatial tasks and answered questionnaires on their wayfinding inclinations; and (ii) learnt a virtual path. The environmental knowledge they gained was assessed on their free recall of landmarks, their egocentric and allocentric pointing accuracy (location knowledge), and their performance in route direction and landmark location tasks (path knowledge). Visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations emerged as two separate factors, and environmental knowledge as a single factor. The SEM model showed that both visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations support the environmental knowledge factor, with similar pattern of relationships in men and women. Overall, factors related to the individual are relevant to the environmental knowledge gained from an online virtual passive navigation.
... Thus, according to Siegel and White (1975) and Thorndyke and Hayes-Roth (1982), there are three levels in the acquisition of spatial knowledge: • The consideration and memorization of key landmarks. • The integration of these markers into a sensory-motor path or sequence, in order to move from landmark to landmark (we are here in the implementation of itineraries). ...
According to environmental and behavioural theories, individuals in their early years of cognitive development enter a world full of environmental stimuli that motivate them to perceive and learn. As a result of many perception processes, people convert and transfer perceived information into cognitive patterns that inform their understanding of the surroundings in which they operate and navigate around them. This paper aims to better understand the processes involved in navigating the home-school journey for children and delve into the likely impact of gender and age group of children on their perception of the environment and attempt to identify some of the factors that may affect their spatial behaviour. In doing so, there is the intention to develop a new approach to investigating wayfinding for school age children during their home-school journey. The approach consists of combining the analysis of cognitive maps drawn up by children, observation of their travel routines and space syntax tools. After contextualising the research through a literature review covering issues such as children’s spatial perception, navigation, wayfinding, and imageability, the paper describes the methods used to carry out the research, presents the results of the research and discusses them in order to shed some light on children’s wayfinding on the school journey.
... To reach the ending point, the child must mentally visualize the possible paths that could lead them to the opening at the other end of the maze. The ability to visualize paths and sometimes shortcuts is a hallmark of advancing spatial skills in most theories of spatial development (e.g., Piaget & Inhelder, 1956;Siegel & White, 1975). However, visualizing this path could be difficult, as the child needs to think about it from a top-down perspective that they have not experienced during the maze. ...
... We let students walk individually through an urban outdoor environment. Beforehand, they heard a lecture defining the terms navigation and wayfinding (Montello, 2005;Golledge, 1999), introducing cognitive aspects of human wayfinding including spatial knowledge acquisition (Siegel and White, 1975), and explaining the communication of route directions (Allen, 1997). Furthermore, they learned about a definition and the characterisation of landmarks (Lynch, 1960;Sorrows and Hirtle, 1999) and were introduced to several landmark modalities (visual, olfactory, and auditory) (Hamburger and Röser, 2014). ...
Conventional navigation systems use visually perceptible landmarks to navigate their users from a starting point to a destination. However, sometimes visual information is not enough for route guidance. Visually-impaired or elderly people may not be able to navigate using the visual sense. Furthermore, there may exist no outstanding (i.e., salient) visual landmarks that could be used to navigate. In such a case auditory information may be a helpful guide. We performed two online studies and a focus-group interview to identify possible sound classes in an urban environment. Based on our results, we gathered sounds in Augsburg and classified them according to their source. The findings support our notion that auditory information can be useful for spatial orientation and guidance in addition to or even replacing visual information.
... To reach the ending point, the child must mentally visualize the possible paths that could lead them to the opening at the other end of the maze. The ability to visualize paths and sometimes shortcuts is a hallmark of advancing spatial skills in most theories of spatial development (e.g., Piaget & Inhelder, 1956;Siegel & White, 1975). However, visualizing this path could be difficult, as the child needs to think about it from a top-down perspective that they have not experienced during the maze. ...
This conceptual paper offers an analysis on how children’s play with digital media, including apps and touchscreen devices, may influence their learning and development of spatial skills. Many of children’s formative spatial experiences occur during their play, and a well-established body of research demonstrates the benefits of video and computer games for older children’s and adults’ spatial skills. Building on this prior work, the current article suggests that app play could benefit young children’s spatial skills as well. Our analysis focuses on the unique digital features of children’s apps. Children’s interactions with these features can reveal spatial information that would be difficult or impossible for children to see during their experiences in the real-world. Consequently, app play could expand the types of spatial information children can view. We suggest based on research from developmental psychology that viewing novel spatial information could have benefits for children’s spatial skill development. We provide examples of these digital features in publicly available, popular children’s apps. Finally, we discuss how this research can be used to raise awareness among parents and educators of the spatial learning opportunities in children’s app play.
... The questionnaire scores were first used to compute a general "Navigation Confidence" score for each participant. Second, we isolated the questions related to the use of Survey and Route knowledge, associated with Allocentric and Egocentric space representations, respectively [69][70][71][72][73][74] , and computed an independent score for each. The preference to rely more on one of the two strategies was assessed by computing the difference between Route and Survey scores (dRS); a positive value indicates participant preference to rely on Route strategies, whereas a negative value indicates the opposite (see STAR methods). ...
Spatial navigation in humans relies heavily on vision. However, the impact of early blindness on the brain navigation network and on the hippocampal-entorhinal system supporting cognitive maps, in particular, remains elusive. Here, we tested sighted and early blind individuals in both imagined navigation in fMRI and real-world navigation. During imagined navigation, the Human Navigation Network was reliably activated in both groups, showing resilience to visual deprivation. However, neural geometry analyses highlighted crucial differences between groups. A 60˚ rotational symmetry, characteristic of grid-like coding, emerged in the entorhinal cortex of sighted but not blind people, who instead showed a 4-fold (90˚) symmetry. Moreover, higher parietal cortex activity during navigation in the blind was correlated with the magnitude of 4-fold symmetry and real-word navigation abilities. In sum, early blindness can alter the geometry of entorhinal cognitive maps, possibly as a consequence of higher reliance on parietal egocentric coding during navigation.
... Earlier studies on spatial navigation [9,10] suggested that the formation of cognitive maps is the result of allocentric navigation. Allocentric navigation (also termed map-based orientation-specific manner. ...
The goal of the current study was to show the existence of distinct types of survey-based environmental representations, egocentric and allocentric, and provide experimental evidence that they are formed by different types of navigational strategies, path integration and map-based navigation, respectively. After traversing an unfamiliar route, participants were either disoriented and asked to point to non-visible landmarks encountered on the route (Experiment 1) or presented with a secondary spatial working memory task while determining the spatial locations of objects on the route (Experiment 2). The results demonstrate a double dissociation between the navigational strategies underlying the formation of allocentric and egocentric survey-based representation. Specifically, only the individuals who generated egocentric survey-based representations of the route were affected by disorientation, suggesting they relied primarily on a path integration strategy combined with landmark/scene processing at each route segment. In contrast, only allocentric-survey mappers were affected by the secondary spatial working memory task, suggesting their use of map-based navigation. This research is the first to show that path integration, in conjunction with egocentric landmark processing, is a distinct standalone navigational strategy underpinning the formation of a unique type of environmental representation—the egocentric survey-based representation.
... In that case, people search neighboring areas of the destination to find notable, easily recognizable, and memorable places with legends on the map. Siegel and White [23] stated that people often use featured places as reference coordinates in moving to a destination, mainly to find their way on the path. Allen [24] indicated that individuals' wayfinding behavior differs according to their purpose for visiting the destination in the wayfinding process. ...
People tend to take their spatial cognition and wayfinding behaviors for granted while moving about in familiar spaces or traversing regular routes (e.g., the way to work). However, when an emergency occurs, even if people evacuate from a familiar venue, they are still likely to experience unexpected and irreparable tragedy. This study conducted an on-site experiment and a survey investigation. First-person view (FPV) floor plans were adopted to develop a relevant experiment, which was then used to investigate the relationship between wayfinding behavior and two influencing factors: floor plan cognition and distance. The t-tests for the accompanying questionnaire indicated that women (31%) are better than men (5.3%) in legend recognition and men (25.5%) outperform women (7.1%) in orientation; both findings achieved significance and are consistent with the results of previous studies conducted by neuroscientists. One-way ANOVA showed that when participants read a floor plan that was difficult to understand (not FPV), they took considerably more time (153.82 s) to reach the closer staircase than those who read a floor plan that was easy to understand and headed to the farther staircase (113.40 s). The understandability of floor plans is key to affecting the public’s evacuation time.
... En otras palabras, la cognición espacial puede verse como el proceso mediante el cual una persona percibe, almacena, recupera, edita y comunica imágenes espaciales. Para entender el modo en el que una persona reconoce un espacio dado, se puede recurrir a su comportamiento observable, como las representaciones externas que produce, siguiendo sus propias representaciones internas.La taxonomía sobre el conocimiento espacial, desarrollada por Siegel et al., se establece a partir del modelo L-R-S, donde la L (Landmark) representa a los hitos espaciales(Siegel & White, 1975). Según Lynch, el hito espacial, es un objeto físico externo que actúa como punto de referencia. ...
The focus of this work affects the identification of the dynamics associated with the
architecture project, throughout history, in order to frame and determine the specific
contribution of AR / VR tools in the respective process.
Throughout history, technology and architecture are continually intertwined, reinforcing
each other. The technique, with the introduction of new constructive solutions, offers
architecture new expressive possibilities, but its influence is not limited to the field of
construction, since progress is also manifested in the tools available to the architect to
carry out his design process, embodied in the architecture project.
From these premises, the following questions arise: How is the project process
configured? What does the current design process consist of? What is the impact of VR
in the project process?
In this way, this study aims to respond to two sequential objectives: 1º - Identify the
technology and tools developed based on VR and its application to the architectural
project, 2º - Analyze the impact of these tools in the phases of the design.
The methodology used was structured in two parts.
The first part is constituted from the collection of data and information, relevant to
establish a study framework that addresses the analysis of the historical evolution of the
architecture project, specifying the form of the design process and, finally, verifying the
tools useful for the project, with special emphasis on VR (Part II - Theoretical
Framework).
The second part is based on the documentary exploration to carry out a critical-reflexive
analysis, with the aim of analyzing the impact of VR in each phase of the design process,
also profiling the role of these phases within the historical evolution of the design
process, as a way to complete this analysis, each phase is exemplified with a specific
experience of applied VR (Part III - Critical-Reflective Analysis).
To respond to the first objective, a critical exposition of the relationship dynamics
between project, design process and VR is made and, in response to the second, the
articulation of VR within each of the phases of the design process is exposed, applied to
the architecture project. One of the main conclusions to highlight is the value of VR as a
qualitative analysis tool. Finally, the last chapter is dedicated to exposing the potential of
VR as a way to transcend the structure of the current architecture project (Part IV - Final
Considerations).
... Siegel and White used cognitive maps in their study which is "The development of Spatial Representations of Large-Scale Environments". They determined how children represent the large-scale environment (Siegel & White, 1975). In addition, Cousins, Siegel and Maxwell in their study, which is "Wayfinding and cognitive mapping in large-scale environments: A test of a developmental model", used cognitive mapping in primary school children (aged 7, 10, and 13) for determining prominent elements and routes of campus (Cousins, Siegel & Maxwell, 1983). ...
... Humans' ability to read a map (map reading) is widely defined as a basic aspect of map use, which entails extracting information about the surrounding environment, finding locations, and recognizing symbols and their meanings [3,4]. According to Siegel and White's model [5], map-like representation is the last stage of environmental knowledge acquisition because it prescinds from the egocentric perspective and asks the individual to take an allocentric perspective. In this vein, a long research tradition suggests that map reading emerges relatively late during childhood. ...
Reading and interpreting a map represents an essential part of daily life, enabling appropriate orientation and navigation through space. Based on the idea that perceptual analogical reasoning is critical in aligning the spatial structure of the map with the spatial structure of the space and given the critical role of language, especially spatial language, in encoding and establishing spatial relations among elements in the environment, the present study investigated the joint contribution of perceptual analogical reasoning and spatial language in map reading. The study was conducted with 56 typically developing 4-to 6-year-old children, and the results indicated that perceptual abstract reasoning affected map reading through the mediating effect of spatial language. These findings yielded theoretical and practical implications regarding the role of perceptual abstract reasoning and spatial language in shaping map-reading abilities in the early stages of life, highlighting that domain-specific language competencies are necessary to improve the encoding of spatial relations, to establish object correspondences, and to ensure successful navigation. Limitations and future research directions were discussed.
... The travellers use such spatial representation of a place or for their day to day travel (Carroll, Tolman, 1948;Wolbers et al., 2004). The spatial representation develops in three different stages: rstly, travellers learn the landmarks around them; secondly, they use them for daily route planning; and nally; as a result, they develop con gurational knowledge of their surroundings (Golledge et al., 1985;Montello, 2001;Siegel & White, 1975). ...
Researchers believe that wayfinding and landmark identification can be enhanced using route instruction and a bird's eye view. It remains an open question whether a bird's eye view or a route instruction would reduce cognitive load in spatial landmark identification. In addition, the effect of environmental colour on human landmark identification during navigation is unclear. The study was conducted with a Virtual environmental (VE) paradigm, and Sixty-six college students (46 males and 20 females) between the ages of 18–35 years volunteered as participants. Participants were randomly assigned to four groups (Instruction- Bird's eye, Instruction- No Bird's eye, No Instruction- Bird's eye, and No Instruction - No Bird's eye). The results of the independent between-group ANOVA yielded a statistically significant effect, F (3, 56) = 3.75, p = 0.01, η2 = 0.16 on coloured environmental conditions. Compared to the B/W condition, coloured environments support landmark identification only in the initial stages of wayfinding. Moreover, the visual trajectory analysis indicates that the number of deviations in the shortest route is less in B/W conditions than in coloured conditions. The study results demonstrated the importance of route instruction on landmark identification under coloured and B/W environments. The results also indicate that the wayfinding time can be reduced by providing clear route instructions in a declarative format.
Describes studies and research on geoscience education in virtual worlds. A correlation between spatial reasoning skills and professional performance in many scientific fields has been demonstrated. Traditional models of education are linked by the ideas that the relationship between teacher and students is asymmetric; the teacher transmits information and the students receive it; With the Web 2.0, traditional models of education should have been passed in favor of post-cognitivist models, where knowledge is distributed, situated and embodied. In this framework of interpretation, learning is no more a task-oriented process and knowledge is no longer transmitted but shared, co-constructed, and negotiated within a learning community. Likewise, Web 2.0 learning approaches allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to previous websites where people were limited to passive viewing of content.
Navigation is not a professional skill executed only by pilots or ship captains, but an everyday activity of getting from one location to another. It encompasses locomotion and wayfinding – a planning task. Routing is the process of path selection in a network, usually done by somebody or something other than the navigator. With the advent of smartphones and mobile Internet, recent years have seen a near ubiquity of routing (or navigation) services. The communication of routing information by computational systems does not always match with the expectations of the systems' human users, which may create some issues in the navigation process and which constitutes one of the current research challenges.
Public transportation is a vector of social inclusion. However, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities face a variety of barriers to independent travel in their communities. The results of this survey of support staff show that assistive technology systems can be a solution to improve the teaching of navigation skills in this population provided that it is truly adapted to the profile of the individuals: cognitive characteristics, needs, and initial skill level. Finally, effective use in daily life also requires the involvement of professionals in the design of such tools.KeywordsIntellectual DisabilityIndependent travelpublic transportationtechnological solutionmobility
Understanding how individuals mentally perceive and navigate urban spaces is a significant subject in spatial cognition, and it is crucial for urban planning and design. Transit maps are central in these matters, as they present and represent information about public transport systems. They primarily include the positions of transit lines, transit stops and transfer stations, along with the connections that exist between them (Guo, 2011). Through a series of interviews with more than twenty Londoners including a “sketch mapping” phase (Lynch, 1960), Vertesi (2008) showed that the Tube Map depicting the London Underground transit system has distorted Londoners’ perception of their city, with residents now identifying the Tube Map as a plausible representation of what London is.
Our research aims to further her pioneering work and shed light on the connection between people's mental representations of metropolitan areas and the schematic representations of their corresponding public transport networks. We present two studies that confirm an association between peoples’ representations of metropolitan areas and the schematic representations of their respective public transport networks. Our studies take into consideration cognitive biases and distortions revealed in the literature on spatial cognition to underlie the construction of mental representations of geographic spaces where public transport networks have since long put down roots in citizens’ culture and habits with a specific focus on Paris, London and Berlin metropolitan areas.
Literature reported mixed evidence on whether active exploration benefits spatial knowledge acquisition over passive exploration. Active spatial learning typically involves at least physical control of one's movement or navigation decision-making, while passive participants merely observe during exploration. To quantify the effects of active exploration in learning large-scale, unfamiliar environments, we analysed previous findings with the multi-level meta-analytical model. Potential moderators were identified and examined for their contributions to the variability in effect sizes. Of the 128 effect sizes retrieved from 33 experiments, we observed a small to moderate advantage of active exploration over passive observation. Important moderators include gender composition, decision-making, types of spatial knowledge, and matched visual information. We discussed the implications of the results along with the limitations.
In this paper, we propose novel local and global models of street network entropy that measure levels of navigability given only limited local directional information. These models are defined for individual locations and entire street networks. Both models are derived using a generalised model of entropy from the field of game theory, which considers a decision-maker attempting to perform a task in the presence of incomplete information. We argue that the proposed models are more interpretable and useful than existing models of street network entropy since they measure the uncertainty of navigation, which is the task street networks are intended to facilitate. We demonstrate this utility by performing an empirical analysis of the entropy properties of UK city street networks.
Navigation assistance systems (NASs) aim to help visually impaired people (VIPs) navigate unfamiliar environments. Most of today's NASs support VIPs via turn-by-turn navigation, but a growing body of work highlights the importance of exploration as well. It is unclear, however, how NASs should be designed to help VIPs explore unfamiliar environments. In this paper, we perform a qualitative study to understand VIPs' information needs and challenges with respect to exploring unfamiliar environments to inform the design of NASs that support exploration. Our findings reveal the types of spatial information that VIPs need as well as factors that affect VIPs' information preferences. We also discover specific challenges that VIPs face that future NASs can address, such as orientation and mobility education and collaborating effectively with others. We present design implications for NASs that support exploration, and we identify specific research opportunities and discuss open socio-technical challenges for making such NASs possible. We conclude by reflecting on our study procedure to inform future approaches in research on ethical considerations that may be adopted while interacting with the broader VIP community.
Decades of politically motivated place renaming have prompted the population of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, to adopt a bottom‐up vernacular toponymic register, wherein locations are indicated in relation to points of reference known as orientiry . Orientiry take cues from the built environment and are generated through the population's affective pluritemporal engagements with the city. Accordingly, they can take different material forms, but they can also be dropped or discursively replaced by new ones situated temporally or physically closer to the population's everyday experiences. This article argues that orientiry are kept more or less coherent by the need for Tashkent dwellers to indicate locations to their fellow residents and especially to Tashkent's informal taxi drivers. Orientiry are proliferated and standardized by the exchange of environmental information that occurs between driver and passenger as they find their way through various places and temporalities. The article demonstrates how a combination of cognition, affect, and social stimuli shapes wayfinding in Tashkent, revealing the city's orientiry as a representation of a collective image of the city—an assemblage of individual mental maps that overlap, interfere, contradict, and exclude one another and yet remain functional by similar habitual use of the city.
This study evaluated the impact the Tactile Maps Automated Production (TMAP) system has had on its blind and visually impaired (BVI) and Orientation and Mobility (O&M) users and obtained suggestions for improvement. A semi-structured interview was performed with six BVI and seven O&M TMAP users who had printed or ordered two or more TMAPs in the last year. The number of maps downloaded from the online TMAP generation platform was also reviewed for each participant. The most significant finding is that having access to TMAPs increased map usage for BVIs from less than 1 map a year to getting at least two maps from the order system, with those who had easy access to an embosser generating on average 18.33 TMAPs from the online system and saying they embossed 42 maps on average at home or work. O&Ms appreciated the quick, high-quality, and scaled map they could create and send home with their students, and they frequently used TMAPs with their braille reading students. To improve TMAPs, users requested that the following features be added: interactivity, greater customizability of TMAPs, viewing of transit stops, lower cost of the ordered TMAP, and nonvisual viewing of the digital TMAP on the online platform.
In emergency situations such as fire evacuation, indoor wayfinding is a complex and challenging task that is closely related to spatial cognition and spatial ability. This study discusses the indoor wayfinding ability of evacuees from the perspective of spatial cognitive style. Spatial cognitive style can be divided into: landmark, route, survey (ordered from low to high). We measured the spatial cognitive style of participants, created a realistic virtual scene with a LiDAR scanner, and finally captured real behavior data using mobile virtual reality. The results show that people with a survey style can better extract information from an evacuation map and use it correctly, and they have a stronger sense of direction and cognition of the evacuation scene. People with a route or landmark style rely more on evacuation signs and following others to find their way and are more likely to lose their way in an emergency. These findings are helpful to explain the differences in wayfinding strategies and escape results of people in a fire evacuation.
Twenty-nine reflective and 29 impulsive fifth-grade boys were tested in a forced-choice visual recognition memory task. In three of the experimental conditions (1FD, 2FD, 4FD) the number of visual feature differences between the correct and incorrect test stimuli was 1, 2, or 4, and correct response could not be based on the name of the stimulus; in the fourth condition (DO) the correct and incorrect test stimuli had different names. As predicted, performance on DO and 4FD was equivalent and was superior to that on 1FD and 2FD. Although reflective Ss made more correct responses than impulsive Ss in all four conditions, only the performance difference in Condition 1FD was significant. Mean correct response latencies mirrored the correct response data. These results were consistent with the Selfridge-Neisser feature-testing model of recognition memory, and it was argued that the primary underlying basis for the dimension of reflection-impulsivity was that reflective Ss tend to engage in a more detailed visual feature analysis of stimulus arrays. Strong inferential evidence was provided that visual feature analysis independent of verbal labeling was responsible for successful recognition performance in these Ss.
Recent research has demonstrated several sensory, perceptual, cognitive, and motor deficits which are concomitant with, or are spared in aphasia, or lesions of either cerebral hemisphere.
The time taken to detect the te direction of movement of a stylus drawn across the volar surface of the forearm is greater for heroin addicts than for nonaddicts. The slower the speed of movement of the stylus, the greater the difference. Perception of nontemporally related dimensions is not affected, indicating that the effects of heroin appear to be highly specific, and alter the central nervous system's temporal processes which govern and regulate excitability and cortical scanning.
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The purpose of this research was to evaluate the bearing of the hemispheric side of the lesion, of language disturbances and of visual field defects on two intelligence tests loaded with spatial factors, such as Elithorn's Perceptual Maze Test and Raven's Progressive Matrices 1938. These tests were administered to right and left brain-damaged patients. The two hemispheric groups were divided into subgroups according to presence/absence of visual field defects and (within the left hemisphere group) of aphasia. Scores were analyzed by means of co-variance analysis, concomitant variables being age, years of schooling and visual reaction times (considered as a measure of the severity of the lesion). No significant difference was found between the performances of the two hemispheric groups on the Progressive Matrices. Right brain-damaged patients performed worse than left brain-damaged patients on the Perceptual Maze Test, but any significant difference disappeared when scores were adjusted for visual reaction times, which were slower in the right brain-damaged group. Aphasics performed worse than non-aphasic left brain-damaged patients on both tests, while patients with visual field defects performed worse than those without visual field defects on the Perceptual Maze Test only.
Various defects in language functions have been described as a consequence of specific lesions in the left hemisphere. Impairment of various types of visual functions have been reported following post-Rolandic lesions in the right hemisphere. Claims of systematic differential effects of lateralized lesions on Wechsler-Bellevue verbal and performance scales following lesions in any portions of the two hemispheres were tested by comparisons of Wechsler verbal and performance scores in 246 patients with various types of brain lesions. The findings failed to support the claims of such differential effects. Results of the present study illustrate the critical importance of careful definitions of the precise locus of brain lesions and of the specific nature of sensory, motor, and mental defects in efforts to define the roles of the various brain structures in higher and lower level cerebral functions of man.
Six cases are described in which lesions in the non-dominant (minor) hemisphere produced disabilities in spatial orientation and in visual spatial constructional tasks. One case also had some loss of topographical memory and visual imagery. One probably had a transient upset of body image appreciation. These disabilities are considered to be agnosic and apraxic rather than simply perceptual: but the purely descriptive term "visual spatial constructional disability" is suggested for use until further evidence of possible perceptual loss is available. The evidence from other recorded cases is assessed and it is concluded that the visual spatial functions described are the special province of the non-dominant or minor hemisphere.
A series of simple tests involving Right-Left orientation and the appreciation of spatial relationships were given to 129 school children between the ages of 4 and 11 years who were regarded as educationally and developmentally "average". It was found that ability to perform a task preceded the ability to express it in verbal terms by some 2 to 5 years. Similar tasks were given to 23 adults with verified intracranial lesions (11 Left hemisphere and 12 Right hemisphere). Performances were compared with those of the children and scored in terms of Mental Year decrements. The decrements found on this basis agreed with expectations based on clinical observation. Greater overall decrements were found in the Left hemisphere lesions than in the Right, but in both groups of patients decrements were greater in association with parietal lobe lesions than with lesions in other areas.
Three forms of altered space perception are described - seen, respectively, after occipital, frontal, and parietal brain wounds in man: (1) Acute occipital lesions produce distortions in visuospatial coordinates, i.e., defects in the direct mapping of contours in the visual field. These distortions recede with time but reappear in some cases, transiently, in the form of visual fits. (2) Frontal lesions, acute or chronic, produce subtle changes in visuopostural interaction, so that targets are mislocalized under conditions of unusual body posture. (3) Acute parietal lesions, finally, can produce quite general difficulties in orientation with regard to the subject's own body and the space surrounding him; in later stages, there still is some trouble with route-finding by means of maps, as if there were a lasting impairment in the utilizing of schematic spatial representations.
90 5-11 yr olds were tested on 2 variations of Piaget's spatial perspective task. The predominance of each of 4 kinds of spatial errors (interposition, aspect, distance, and right-left) was found to be differentially related both to age and overall task performance. The significance of this developmental sequence and the method of error analysis employed are discussed in the context of the earlier work of Piaget and B. Inhelder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Presents a theoretical framework stemming from the evolutionary psychology of Herbert Spencer. The essential aspects of the theory are: (a) coordination of perspectives is mediated by both social and cognitive factors; (b) social and cognitive development can be construed as involving the successive acquisition of modes of thinking, each mode being a differentiation of the previous mode and qualitatively different from it; and (c) the different modes of thinking are coexisting. In 2 experiments with 184 3-9 yr. olds, age, stimulus complexity, and mode of response were varied, and percentage of correct responses and percentage of egocentric errors were measured. In Exp. II, response latency was also measured. In both experiments older Ss made fewer errors, but relatively more egocentric errors than younger Ss. In Exp. II, correct responses and egocentric errors had approximately equal response latencies, both faster than that for nonegocentric errors. Results are taken as supportive of the theory. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Describes an experiment in which 3 groups of 20 6-7 yr. olds, 9-10 yr. olds, and undergraduates localized spatial targets by pointing with the index finger of their unseen left hand. Spatial information was provided by a pencil (vision condition) or by the S's unseen (proprioception condition) or seen (vision-proprioception condition) right index finger. The localization response occurred either while the target was present or 5, 15, or 25 sec. after it had been removed. Analyses of accuracy and variability data reveal no age differences when the target was present, but superior performance by older Ss when pointing at remembered targets. In general, the proprioception condition yielded poorer performance than the 2 other conditions. Results are consistent with other findings on children's spatial localization, modality dominance, and maintenance of a set. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Kindergarten and 1st grade pupils (40 girls and 40 boys from 4-8 yr. old) made a series of "in front," "in back," and "beside" placements of pairs of common objects; 3 pairs lacked front-back features and 4 pairs had front-back features. Despite the potential sources of conflict between types of cues, results show that Ss agreed both with themselves and with each other as to what defined fronts and backs of objects. This consensus was shown in the object-referent condition where over 80% of placements of featured objects and 67% of featureless objects were made in the same way by all children. The high degree of regularity in situations containing numerous bases for irregularity suggests the hypothesis that the development of the spatial system of front-back may be an analog of grammatical development in children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
". . . OUTLINE OF THE TEST BATTERY WHICH IS IN COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT IN IOWA CITY AND MILAN . . . .(IT IS HOPED) THAT WHEN PERFECTED, IT WILL PROVIDE BOTH A USEFUL INSTRUMENT FOR CLINICAL EVALUATION AND A VALID RESEARCH TECHNIQUE. IT WOULD SEEM POSSIBLE THAT IT, OR A SIMILARLY STANDARDIZED BATTERY OF TESTS, COULD SERVE AS THE STARTING POINT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A BASIC MULTILINGUAL INSTRUMENT FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF APHASIA. THE APPLICATION OF SUCH AN INTERNATIONAL BATTERY WOULD NOT BE RESTRICTIVE IN ANY WAY. CERTAINLY IT WOULD NOT PRECLUDE THE UTILIZATION OF SPECIAL TESTS AND APPROACHES BY ANY INVESTIGATOR OR IN ANY CLINIC. THE UNIFORM APPLICATION OF A STANDARD EXAMINATION SUCH AS THIS WOULD GO FAR TOWARDS ESTABLISHING THAT LEVEL OF OPERATIONAL UNDERSTANDING AMONG WORKERS WHICH IS A PREREQUISITE FOR SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION IN THE FIELD OF APHASIA." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Analyzed maps of their neighborhoods drawn by 60 black adolescents, 12-17 yr. old, in a New England city. 4 groups of maps are described: pictorial, schematic, diagrammatic (map-like) without landmarks, and diagrammatic with landmarks. There appeared to be little or no relationship between map groups and Ss' ages, grades in school, or length of residence in a neighborhood. Other features of the maps are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Attempts to analyze the cognitive structure of the image of an urban downtown shopping center; this image largely determines consumer behavior processes and patterns. It was hypothesized that the cognitive structure was 9-dimensional, and the hypothesis was operationally defined by a set of 36 semantic differential scales. Applying correlational and factor-analytic procedures on Ss' views of such a center in Bristol, England, the structure was found to be 8-dimensional. The points of difference were explicable in a post hoc context. 2 issues are discussed: the relationship between the cognitive structure and central-place theoretical explanations of consumer behavior; and the lack of articulation between macro-level assumptions about spatial behavior and empirical findings concerning micro-level individual behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examines developments in the study of the relationships between the physical environment and behavior, and their significance for the psychological profession. 3 types of problems are distinguished: behavioral ecology, generalized effects of the physical environment on behavior, and effects of environmental stimulation on affective and motivational variables. The latter are given particular attention, and relationships to psychological principles from the study of arousal, exploratory behavior, and adaptation processes are pointed out. The question of the type of institutional structures best suited to promote training and research in this new discipline is examined. (44 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
PRESENTS A "PSYCHOLOGICAL MODEL OF THE MYSTIC EXPERIENCE BASED ON THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT MEDITATION AND RENUNCIATION ARE PRIMARY TECHNIQUES FOR PRODUCING IT, AND THAT THE PROCESS CAN BE CONCEPTUALIZED AS ONE OF DE-AUTOMATIZATION." AUTOMATIZATION IS TAKEN FROM HARTMANN'S CONCEPT OF THE AUTOMATIC FUNCTIONING OF MOTOR BEHAVIOR, I.E., OF THE AUTOMATIZED INTEGRATION OF BOTH SOMATIC SYSTEMS AND MENTAL ACTS. DEAUTOMATIZATION IS THE UNDOING OF THIS PROCESS BY "REINVESTING ACTIONS AND PERCEPTS WITH ATTENTION." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
75 boys and 60 girls (CAs 8-9) copied patterns by drawing and by walking in an expanded spatial field under 3 conditions: no defined reference points, reference points, and reference points plus visual tracking cues. Drawing differences among groups are nonsignificant. Boys were significantly better than girls in reproducing patterns by walking under 2 of 3 walking conditions. Boys improved in pattern walking across conditions as more visual cues were available; girls did not. Differences were reflected in objective scores and in styles of pattern walking. Findings suggest a sex difference in perceptual strategies in the organization of space. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Discusses a methodological study intended to determine some scaling procedures for distances to facilities, as judged by 32 urban residents from a wide variety of neighborhoods. The facilities were of 10 types, including parks, schools, bus stops, and the like. Each S chose 1 example familiar to him of each type. Judgments were made on simple line diagrams. Items were presented in 2 kinds of paired-comparisons format. Results suggest that subjective distances changed only slightly with the number of judgments made. Urban residents probably use simple ordinal relationships in trip decisions when such discriminations are adequate, but they can easily make ratio scale judgments with good accuracy. No conclusions were reached about whether residents have different distance functions for different types of facilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A MODIFIED VERSION OF THE WEIGL SORTING TEST WAS ADMINISTERED TO 40 PATIENTS WITH RIGHT BRAIN DAMAGE, 22 NONAPHASICS WITH LEFT BRAIN DAMAGE, 45 WITH APHASIA, AND 40 NORMAL CONTROLS. NO DIFFERENCE IN TEST PERFORMANCE WAS FOUND BETWEEN RIGHT AND LEFT NONAPHASIC BRAIN DAMAGED PATIENTS, BUT THE MEAN SCORE OF THE APHASIC GROUP WAS 50% LOWER THAN THAT OF THE NORMAL CONTROLS. "THE SCORE OBTAINED BY APHASICS ON WEIGL TEST WAS FOUND TO CORRELATE HIGHLY WITH AN AUDITORY VERBAL WEIGL SCORE AND EITHER A VISUAL NAMING OR AN IDEOMOTOR APRAXIA SCORE. PATIENTS WITH TYPICAL "AMNESIC' APHASIA WERE NOT FOUND TO PERFORM THE TEST MORE POORLY THAN PATIENTS WITH TYPICAL WERNICKE'S OR BROCA'S APHASIA." IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE WEIGL TEST IS NOT SENSITIVE TO CEREBRAL BRAIN DAMAGE PER SE, BUT IS HIGHLY SENSITIVE TO LEFT (DOMINANT) HEMISPHERIC LESIONS ASSOCIATED WITH APHASIA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
"3 groups of left brain-damaged patients (N:70), of right brain-damaged patients (N:55), and of control patients (N:50) were given a battery of constructive tasks. All 3 tests indicated that constructive apraxia is significantly more frequent among right brain-damaged patients. When examined with a battery of intelligence tests, dyspraxics proved to be more impaired than non-dyspraxics, both in performance and verbal tasks. All patients were given a visual reaction time (RT) test, in order to obtain a measure of the severity of their brain lesions which was not biassed by hemispheric dominance for certain mental abilities. Dyspraxics showed significantly lengthened RT in comparison to non-dyspraxics, and this, in connection with the findings of the intellectual tests, suggested that constructional dyspraxia is a specific symptom which occurs within the setting of severe cerebral disorganization and of general mental impairment. Reaction times of right brain-damaged patients were significantly slower than those of the left." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Proposes an explanation of how undergraduates solve 3-term series problems (ordering syllogisms). Earlier work suggests that Ss invoke spatial images to represent the order of items. S's strategy for achieving such a representation of order is examined. S imagines items to be material objects which he must move about in space to correspond to the verbal descriptions given in the 2 premises. The mental operations involved in obtaining answers to these reasoning problems correspond to those involved in making actual spatial arrangements of real objects according to analogous types of verbal descriptions. The suggested strategy explains observed variations in difficulty of alternative forms of the problem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
It has previously been shown that the principle of least effort does not apply to the choice of shopping subcenters in cities, housewives preferring to use more distant shops in a downtown direction to nearer outward ones. It is proposed that residents' general schemata of the city are characterized by a focal orientation, built up by the satisfactions of the city center and resulting in a foreshortening of distance in a downtown direction. If so, shopping would appear as a particular instance of a more general principle. Hypothesis was tested by measuring the perceived distance for 22 varied destinations, located inward and outward from a single inception point, and is strongly confirmed. There is also an interaction between sex, direction, and destination. Several alternative explanations for these effects are discussed in the light of the data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
"74 LEFT BRAIN-DAMAGED PATIENTS AND 63 RIGHT BRAIN-DAMAGED PATIENTS WERE GIVEN 2 SIMPLE VISUO-SPATIAL TESTS: THE 1ST REQUIRING THE REPRODUCTION OF THE LOCATION OF SMALL CROSSES, THE 2ND . . . THE VISUALIZING OF A SCRAWL WHEN INVERTED. THE PATIENTS' PERFORMANCES WERE ANALYSED ACCORDING TO: (1) THE HEMISPHERIC LATERALIZATION OF THE LESION; (2) PRESENCE OF CONSTRUCTIONAL APRAXIA, ASSESSED BY A COPYING OF DRAWINGS TEST, AND (3) PRESENCE OF VISUAL FIELD DEFECTS. THE RIGHT HEMISPHERE GROUP WAS INFERIOR TO THE LEFT HEMISPHERE GROUP ONLY ON THE COPYING CROSSES TEST. . . . (IN) THE LEFT HEMISPHERE GROUP ONLY PATIENTS WITH BOTH APRAXIA AND VISUAL FIELD DEFECTS WERE MARKEDLY IMPAIRED. THESE FINDINGS, WHICH WERE CONSISTENT ON THE 2 SPATIAL TESTS, SUGGEST THAT SPATIAL ABILITIES MIGHT BE DIFFERENTLY ORGANIZED IN THE 2 HEMISPHERES, THEIR REPRESENTATION BEING MORE FOCALIZED ON THE LEFT AND MORE DIFFUSE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
"62 PATIENTS WITH UNILATERAL CORTICAL LESIONS WERE GIVEN 2 TESTS OF FACIAL RECOGNITION, WHICH REQUIRED RECOGNITION OF WELL-KNOWN FACES AND RECOGNITION FROM IMMEDIATE MEMORY OF PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN FACES. THE RIGHT HEMISPHERE GROUP WAS IMPAIRED RELATIVE TO THE LEFT HEMISPHERE GROUP ON BOTH TESTS. IN NEITHER GROUP WAS THERE A SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION BETWEEN THE SCORES ON THE 2 TASKS, INDICATING THAT THE TASKS WERE TESTS OF SEPARATE AND DISTINCT FUNCTIONS. THE RESULTS ARE DISCUSSED IN TERMS OF THE CLINICAL SYNDROME, PROSOPAGNOSIA. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT PROSOPAGNOSIA MAY BE A CONSTITUENT OF AN AMNESIC SYNDROME." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Investigated the effects of laterality, movement, and language on children's ability to conserve multiple-space relations. 80 male and 80 female 1st graders of similar socioeconomic level and intelligence were assessed for their functional knowledge of language and lateral dominance. Ss were then randomly assigned to a spectator or participation condition. Ss who were bilateral exhibited more success in reproducing space relations than lateralized ss. Results support an iconic mode of representation and do not support an extreme emphasis on the importance of language or motor activity. Further analysis of laterality patterns indicate that ss who were right-handed and left-eyed produced the main laterality effect obtained. Results are consistent with recent neurophysiological evidence attesting to the asymmetrical functioning of the cerebral hemispheres. (33 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Determined whether preoperational children can recognize a regularly seriated configuration of rods before they are able to reconstruct one from the disarranged elements. 32 4-yr-old and 32 5-yr-old black Head Start children were given 6 recognition and 6 reconstruction tasks. Results show that the ability to recognize a seriated configuration clearly precedes in development the ability to reconstruct one. Regular variations in the perceptual qualities of the nonseriated configurations which facilitated recognition performance made reconstruction more difficult, and vice versa. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A variety of experimental paradigms (reversal-nonreversal learning, transposition learning, etc.) indicate that young children evidence less mediational behavior than older children. Many variables have been shown to influence mediation, but it is not yet clear whether the emergence of mediational behavior is a voluntary or involuntary process, i.e., modifiable or unmodifiable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
"The application of vigilance tests to cases of focal lesions has been investigated in brain-damaged (N = 166) and control patients (N = 139). The performances of the Ss on an intelligence test (Raven's Matrices, 1938) and in 2 vigilance tests (Visual Reaction) were compared. The 2 vigilance tests showed greater efficiency in discriminating between normal and pathological Ss than the intelligence test, if the educational level was not taken into account; this difference disappeared when specific criteria of discrimination, based on the yr. of schooling, were applied. The discrepancy between number of Ss classified correctly and incorrectly with the single and the specific threshold methods was greater with the Matrices than with the vigilance tests. In the comparison of aphasic vs. non-aphasic and left-sided vs. right-sided patients there were no differences in the performances on Raven's Matrices. In the Continuous Choice Reaction the aphasics showed a poorer performance than the left non-aphasic, presumably because of the importance of internal verbalization for performance on this test; no difference was found between the 2 hemispheric groups. In Reaction Time (RT) aphasic and left non-aphasic Ss showed similar performances, but the right-sided patients were markedly slower than the left-sided ones. This result was interpreted tentatively as reflecting the presence of a more severe degree of cerebral damage in the right-sided group. The hypothesis is advanced that RT may be regarded as a measure of the severity of a lesion, unbiased by its localization." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Experiments with North American and Puerto Rican children 5-7 yr. old show that Ss can interpret and utilize an environmental map without training or prior exposure to the representation. Specifically Ss can interpret a vertical aerial photograph and satellite photograph, can prepare a tracing from the aerial photograph, can retain meaning for the traced signs, and can operate the tracing as an environmental map in the solution of a simulated navigation problem. Results imply that environmental learning, like object learning, is already well advanced at the school-entering age, and suggest the possibility that complex environmental concepts can be introduced, along with mapping, in 1st grade science education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Processes in which perceptual imagery is only a bridge by which a meaning is approached play an essential role in our psychic life. These are referred to as thought processes and their goal is thought. Images are an aid to thought and are additionally investigated in this chapter. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A semantic-pragmatic model for problem-solving and symbolic behavior is offered in which Piaget's cognitive-developmental variable is conceptualized as a quantitative construct, the central computing space M.A new sort of concept attainment or decoding-encoding experimental paradigm based on the model is developed and an experiment on 5-, 7-, and 9-year-olds is reported. The experimental design includes three factors: chronological age, mode of representation (verbal vs. gestural), and semanticpragmatic task complexity (decoding vs. encoding). The Piagetian predictions are upheld contradicting alternative predictions which follow from Bruner's model.Finally, the new model is applied to explaining the Piagetian classinclusion data and also the data of inferential behavior recently reported by Kendler and Kendler.
The Wechsler-Bellevue Scale was given to adult patients whose neurological and neurosurgical status indicated left-or right-sided cerebral lesions or diffuse lesions involving hemispheres, 14, 17 and 31 patients in the respective groups, all patients being right-handed. 13 of 14 patients with left-sided lesions showed lower verbal than performance scores, 15 of 17 with right-sided lesions, higher verbal than performance scores; the diffuse lesion group showed even distribution of score averages.
Studies of sensory and motor capacities of the hands in brain-injured subjects indicate that, contrary to the prevailing view, these capacities are represented differently in the two hemispheres, tending to be focally represented in the left hemisphere but diffusely represented in the right. This difference between the hemispheres was found not only for contralateral sensorimotor function, but also for ipsilateral; moreover, such a difference seemed to apply not only to these relatively simple manual capacities, but to more complex abilities as well. The two contrasting modes of neural organization, which appear to be linked to the hemisphere rather than to the particular hand or level of function involved, provide a possible clue to the mechanism of hemispheric specialization. More specifically, it is proposed that focal representation of elementary functions in the left hemisphere favors integration of similar units and consequently specialization for behaviors which demand fine sensorimotor control, such as manual skills and speech. Conversely, diffuse representation of elementary functions in the right hemisphere may lead to integration of dissimilar units and hence specialization for behaviors requiring multimodal coordination, such as the various spatial abilities.
A consecutive series of sixty-five patients with unilateral cortical lesions was given three tests of visual recognition and one of immediate visual retention, together with the W.A.I.S. The right parietal group showed a deficit on all tests of visual perception. Test stimuli, which were both verbal and familiar, were graded in difficulty on a perceptual dimension, and discriminated between right and left hemisphere lesions. Evidence for some degree of differentiation of function within the right hemisphere is presented. The test of visual retention was associated with constructional impairment in the right hemisphere group, but not in the left hemisphere group. The relationship between perceptual disorders following right hemisphere lesions and visual object agnosia is discussed.