Showing papers in "Cognitive Processing in 2006"
TL;DR: The paper describes the frameworks and infers from them ten empirical principles—the biogenic ‘family traits’—that constitute constraints on biogenic theorizing that are superior for approaching a general theory of cognition as a natural phenomenon.
Abstract: After half a century of cognitive revolution we remain far from agreement about what cognition is and what cognition does. It was once thought that these questions could wait until the data were in. Today there is a mountain of data, but no way of making sense of it. The time for tackling the fundamental issues has arrived. The biogenic approach to cognition is introduced not as a solution but as a means of approaching the issues. The traditional, and still predominant, methodological stance in cognitive inquiry is what I call the anthropogenic approach: assume human cognition as the paradigm and work ‘down’ to a more general explanatory concept. The biogenic approach, on the other hand, starts with the facts of biology as the basis for theorizing and works ‘up’ to the human case by asking psychological questions as if they were biological questions. Biogenic explanations of cognition are currently clustered around two main frameworks for understanding biology: self-organizing complex systems and autopoiesis. The paper describes the frameworks and infers from them ten empirical principles—the biogenic ‘family traits’—that constitute constraints on biogenic theorizing. Because the anthropogenic approach to cognition is not constrained empirically to the same degree, I argue that the biogenic approach is superior for approaching a general theory of cognition as a natural phenomenon.
183 citations
TL;DR: The involvement of the supplementary motor area (SMA) in the encoding of target durations by reporting convergent fMRI data from motor and perceptual timing tasks suggests that the SMA plays a key role in time processing as part of the striato-cortical pathway previously identified by animal studies, human neuropsychology and neuroimaging.
Abstract: The neural bases of timing mechanisms in the second-to-minute range are currently investigated using multidisciplinary approaches. This paper documents the involvement of the supplementary motor area (SMA) in the encoding of target durations by reporting convergent fMRI data from motor and perceptual timing tasks. Event-related fMRI was used in two temporal procedures, involving (1) the production of an accurate interval as compared to an accurate force, and (2) a dual-task of time and colour discrimination with parametric manipulation of the level of attention attributed to each parameter. The first study revealed greater activation of the SMA proper in skilful control of time compared to force. The second showed that increasing attentional allocation to time increased activity in a cortico-striatal network including the pre-SMA (in contrast with the occipital cortex for increasing attention to colour). Further, the SMA proper was sensitive to the attentional modulation cued prior to the time processing period. Taken together, these data and related literature suggest that the SMA plays a key role in time processing as part of the striato-cortical pathway previously identified by animal studies, human neuropsychology and neuroimaging.
157 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded, based on the OA framework, that brain functioning is best conceptualized in terms of continuity–discreteness unity which is also the characteristic property of cognition.
Abstract: This article provides an overview of recent developments in solving the timing problem (discreteness vs. continuity) in cognitive neuroscience. Both theoretical and empirical studies have been considered, with an emphasis on the framework of operational architectonics (OA) of brain functioning (Fingelkurts and Fingelkurts in Brain Mind 2:291–29, 2001; Neurosci Biobehav Rev 28:827–836, 2005). This framework explores the temporal structure of information flow and interarea interactions within the network of functional neuronal populations by examining topographic sharp transition processes in the scalp EEG, on the millisecond scale. We conclude, based on the OA framework, that brain functioning is best conceptualized in terms of continuity–discreteness unity which is also the characteristic property of cognition. At the end we emphasize where one might productively proceed for the future research.
128 citations
TL;DR: Main results show that subjects perform significantly better in identifying phonological variations rather than tonal ones and interestingly, the group with a high melodic ability shows a better performance exclusively in detecting tonal variations.
Abstract: In tonal languages, as Mandarin Chinese and Thai, word meaning is partially determined by lexical tones. Previous studies suggest that lexical tones are processed by native listeners as linguistic information and not as pure tonal information. This study aims at verifying if, in nontonal languages speakers, the discrimination of lexical Mandarin tones varies in function of the melodic ability. Forty-six students with no previous experience of Mandarin or any other tonal language were presented with two short lists of spoken monosyllabic Mandarin words and invited to perform a same-different task trying to identify whether the variation were phonological or tonal. Main results show that subjects perform significantly better in identifying phonological variations rather than tonal ones and interestingly, the group with a high melodic ability (assessed by Wing subtest 3) shows a better performance exclusively in detecting tonal variations.
70 citations
TL;DR: This paper presents a completely data-driven analysis method that applies both independent components analysis and the Granger causality test, performed in two separate steps, to extract both spatial and temporal activities from fMRI recordings.
Abstract: One of the most important achievements in understanding the brain is that the emergence of complex behavior is guided by the activity of brain networks. To fully apply this theoretical approach fully, a method is needed to extract both the location and time course of the activities from the currently employed techniques. The spatial resolution of fMRI received great attention, and various non-conventional methods of analysis have previously been proposed for the above-named purpose. Here, we briefly outline a new approach to data analysis, in order to extract both spatial and temporal activities from fMRI recordings, as well as the pattern of causality between areas. This paper presents a completely data-driven analysis method that applies both independent components analysis (ICA) and the Granger causality test (GCT), performed in two separate steps. First, ICA is used to extract the independent functional activities. Subsequently the GCT is applied to the independent component (IC) most correlated with the stimuli, to indicate its causal relation with other ICs. We therefore propose this method as a promising data-driven tool for the detection of cognitive causal relationships in neuroimaging data.
49 citations
TL;DR: An overview of the research fields in psychology that significantly progressed with the introduction of a feedforward paradigm is provided by reviewing models in which the feedforward concept plays a fundamental role in the system control and evidencing practical applications for some of the presented feedforward-based architectures.
Abstract: Feedforward control is a process adjusting behaviour in a continuative way. Feedforward takes place when an equilibrium state is disrupted and the system has to automatically retrieve the homeostatic stable state. It also occurs when a perturbation is previewed and must be eliminated in order to achieve a desired goal. According to the most general definition, a feedforward process operates by fixing the future representation of the desired state, the achieving of which stops the process. Then, feedforward works by means of the refinement determined by successive comparisons between the actual and target products. In its applications, a feedforward process is thought to be modulated by the subject’s purpose and the environmental state. Over the years, the feedforward process has assumed different connotations in several contests of cognitive psychology. An overview of the research fields in psychology that significantly progressed with the introduction of a feedforward paradigm is provided by: (a) reviewing models in which the feedforward concept plays a fundamental role in the system control; (b) examining critical experiments related to the interaction of feedforward and feedback processes; (c) evidencing practical applications for some of the presented feedforward-based architectures.
48 citations
TL;DR: A hierarchical model of driving behavior is proposed, which can also be adapted to other goal-directed activities, and shows a significant preference for the anticipatory mode of driving.
Abstract: Driving an automobile is an example of a goal-directed activity with high complexity in which different behavioral elements have to be integrated and brought into a sequential order. On the basis of the reafference principle and experimental results on temporal perception and cognitive control, we propose a hierarchical model of driving behavior, which can also be adapted to other goal-directed activities. Driving is conceived of as being controlled by anticipatory neuronal programs; if these programs are disrupted by unpredictable stimuli, which require an instantaneous reaction, behavioral control returns after completion of the reactive mode to the anticipatory mode of driving. In the model different levels of anticipation windows are distinguished which, however, are interconnected, in a bi-directional way: (a) Strategic level with a representation of the driving activity from the beginning to reaching the final goal; (b) Segmented tactical level with the sequence of necessary milestones to reach the goal; (c) Maneuver level where actions like passing another car or keeping a lane are controlled; (d) Short-term integration level of a few seconds which allows immediate anticipations; and (e) Synchronization level for sensorimotor control and complexity reduction within neuronal assemblies. A flow diagram schematically describes different driving situations stressing the anticipatory mode of control. In a pilot experiment with 20 subjects using a virtual driving situation in a car simulator predictions of the model could be verified, i.e., subjects showed a significant preference for the anticipatory mode of driving.
45 citations
TL;DR: This work examined perceptual switching during ambiguous depth perception using a Necker cube stimulus, and also during binocular rivalry, and found that switching times behave as a 1/f noise and possess very long range correlations.
Abstract: Perceptual multistability during ambiguous visual perception is an important clue to neural dynamics. We examined perceptual switching during ambiguous depth perception using a Necker cube stimulus, and also during binocular rivalry. Analysis of perceptual switching time series using variance-sample size analysis, spectral analysis and time series shuffling shows that switching times behave as a 1/f noise and possess very long range correlations. The long memory feature contrasts sharply with the traditional satiation models of multistability, where the memory is not incorporated, as well as with recently published models of multistability and neural processing, where memory is excluded. On the other hand, the long memory feature favors the concept of "dynamic core" or coalition of neurons, where neurons form transient coalitions. Perceptual switching then corresponds to replacement of one coalition of neurons by another. The inertia and memory measures the stability of a coalition: a strong and stable coalition has to be won over by another similarly strong and stable coalition, resulting in long switching times. The complicated transient dynamics of competing coalitions of neurons may be addressable using a combination of functional imaging, measurement of frequency-tagged magnetoencephalography and frequency-tagged encephalography, simultaneous recordings of groups of neurons in many areas of the brain, and concepts from statistical mechanics and nonlinear dynamics theory.
35 citations
TL;DR: In the literature about spatial cognition, spatial reference systems are typically classified into two main categories: egocentric and allocentric (Paillard 1991; Pani and Dupree 1994), and for this reason the access to spatial locations is not equally easy but depends on the relation between the required location and the organism.
Abstract: In the literature about Spatial Cognition, spatial reference systems are typically classified into two main categories: egocentric and allocentric (Paillard 1991; Pani and Dupree 1994). Egocentric frames of reference use the organism as the centre of the organization of surrounding space, therefore memorized spatial representations maintain the perspective under which spatial information has been experienced and for this reason the access to spatial locations is not equally easy but depends on the relation between the required location and the organism. Allocentric frame of reference specify location and orientation independently of body’s position; derived representations are centred on objects or environmental features.
33 citations
TL;DR: A generic account of computation is developed and an explanation of the representational capacities of connection weights is provided, supported by an analysis of the weight configurations of a series of simulated neural networks, for a more robust portrait of connectionist computation.
Abstract: Although connectionism is advocated by its proponents as an alternative to the classical computational theory of mind, doubts persist about its computational credentials. Our aim is to dispel these doubts by explaining how connectionist networks compute. We first develop a generic account of computation—no easy task, because computation, like almost every other foundational concept in cognitive science, has resisted canonical definition. We opt for a characterisation that does justice to the explanatory role of computation in cognitive science. Next we examine what might be regarded as the “conventional” account of connectionist computation. We show why this account is inadequate and hence fosters the suspicion that connectionist networks are not genuinely computational. Lastly, we turn to the principal task of the paper: the development of a more robust portrait of connectionist computation. The basis of this portrait is an explanation of the representational capacities of connection weights, supported by an analysis of the weight configurations of a series of simulated neural networks.
32 citations
TL;DR: In the case of blind and visually impaired people, the ability of both travelling independently and interacting with the outer world are the greatest challenges for this specific population (Golledge 1993) as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Wayfinding is one aspect of cognitive mapping that includes the features of encoding, processing and retrieving information about the environment (Golledge 1999; Kitchin and Blades 2001; Blades et al. 2002). Such ability refers to the cognitive patterns of learning a route and retracing it from memory. Orienting oneself in a new environment and moving efficiently and independently are difficult tasks which depend upon a series of processes of high cognitive complexity (Espinosa et al. 1998). These tasks are even more complicated in the case of blind and visually impaired people, thus the abilities of both travelling independently and interacting with the outer world are the greatest challenges for this specific population (Golledge 1993).
TL;DR: Attentional Semantics aims at finding the attentional instruction conveyed by the meanings of words, to identify the sequence of the elementary conscious experiences that invariably accompany, and are prompted by, the use of the word being analyzed.
Abstract: The paper presents the two main assumptions of Attentional Semantics—(A) and (B), and its main aim (C). (A) Conscious experience is determined by attention: there cannot be consciousness without attention. Consciousness is explained as the product of attentional activity. Attentional activity can be performed thanks to a special kind of energy: nervous energy. This energy is supplied by the organ of attention. When we perform attentional activity, we use our nervous energy. This activity directly affects the organ of attention, causing a variation in the state of the nervous energy. This variation constitutes the phenomenal aspect of consciousness. (B) Words are tools to pilot attention. The meanings of words isolate, de-contextualize, “freeze” and classify in an articulated system the ever-changing and multiform stream of our conscious experiences. Each meaning is composed of the sequence of invariable elements that, independently of any individual occurrence of a given conscious experience, are responsible for the production of any instance of that conscious experience. The elements composing the meanings of words are attentional operations: each word conveys the condensed instructions on the attentional operations one has to perform if one wants to consciously experience what is expressed through and by it. (C) Attentional Semantics aims at finding the attentional instruction conveyed by the meanings of words. To achieve this goal, it tries: (1) to identify the sequence of the elementary conscious experiences that invariably accompany, and are prompted by, the use of the word being analyzed; (2) to describe these conscious experiences in terms of the attentional operations that are responsible for their production; and (3) to identify the unconscious and non-conscious operations that, directly or indirectly, serve either as the support that makes it possible for the attentional operations to take place, be completed, and occur in a certain way, or as the necessary complement that makes it possible to execute and implement the activities determined and triggered by the conscious experiences. The origins of Attentional Semantics are also presented, and the methodological problems researchers encounter when analyzing meanings in attentional terms are discussed. Finally, a brief comparison with the other kinds of semantics is made.
TL;DR: The gaze of elite speedskaters was recorded using a mobile eye tracker while skating at full speed on an Olympic Oval and shows that specific gaze behaviors define faster skating speeds.
Abstract: Speedskating is the fastest sport performed by humans without the aid of a machine or banking of the surface upon which the action occurs. Champion speedskaters reach speeds in excess of 49 kph on a flat oval of ice where centrifugal forces continually work to throw the skater off the track. The gaze of elite speedskaters was recorded using a mobile eye tracker while skating at full speed on an Olympic Oval. The skating strides were recorded concurrently and the data analyzed in real space and time. The results show that specific gaze behaviors define faster skating speeds. These gaze are unique and show that both the location of the gaze on the ice surface and the afferent information being acquired help the skater maintain perceptual control over the dynamics of the action.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the spatial skills of experts in visual art and found that the artists' performance was undoubtedly superior compared to non-artists' performance on imagery performance and drawing tasks.
Abstract: This study analyzed the spatial skills of experts in visual art. Empirical evidences suggested that drawing training involves changes in perceptual, spatial and imagery abilities of artists. Several studies investigated cognitive abilities of individuals that carry on artistic activities comparing them with non-artists. These studies provided results indicating artists advantage in imagery processing. Studies on non-experts samples analyzed the relationship between imagery and artistic involvement and the contribution of cognitive and motor components in drawing ability. This study will explore imagery and drawing abilities of expert artists, adding to commonly used imagery performance tasks (objective tests of mental imagery), self-reports of imagery and various drawing tasks. We considered imagery ability as a multifactorial component and the drawing ability as dependent on both cognitive-perceptual and motor skills. The results showed that: (a) there were no significant differences between artists and non-artists on self-reported imagery vividness measures; (b) on imagery performance and drawing tasks the artists’ performance was undoubtedly superior compared to non-artists performance; (c) in the drawing conditions, involving different perceptual and motor processes, experts equally showed a better performance compared to non-expert subjects. These results were interpreted as an overall advantage in perceptual and imagery abilities for visual art experts, both on tasks involving graphic rendering (drawing tasks) and on tasks where it was not requested (imagery tasks). Furthermore, artists’ abilities were interpreted as not limited to a cognitive domain, but different cognitive-motor and essentially motor skills were equally relevant in expert’s drawing.
TL;DR: The results of this experiment indicate that there is comparable facilitation of accessing colour-related semantics through the perception of a color or the reading of a colour name, which suggests that colour has a direct effect on higher order level, cognitive processing.
Abstract: There is ample evidence that an independent processing stream exists that subserves the perception and appreciation of colour. Neurophysiological research has identified separate brain mechanisms for the processing of wavelength and colour, and neuropsychological studies have revealed selective colour disorders, such as achromatopsia, colour agnosia, and colour anomia. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether the perception of colour may, despite its independent processing, influence other cognitive functions. Specifically, we investigate the possibility that the perception of a colour influences higher order processes such as the activation of semantically related concepts. We designed an associative priming task involving a colour prime (e.g. a red patch or the word RED) and a lexical decision response to a semantically related ('tomato' vs. 'timato') or unrelated ('grass' vs. 'griss') word target. The results of this experiment indicate that there is comparable facilitation of accessing colour-related semantics through the perception of a colour or the reading of a colour name. This suggests that colour has a direct effect on higher order level, cognitive processing. These results are discussed in terms of current models of colour processing.
TL;DR: This work proposes to develop a computable transposition of the consciousness concepts into artificial brains, able to express emotions and consciousness facts, and goes strictly by the notion of massive multi-agent's organizations with a morphologic control.
Abstract: Nowadays for robots, the notion of behavior is reduced to a simple factual concept at the level of the movements. On another hand, consciousness is a very cultural concept, founding the main property of human beings, according to themselves. We propose to develop a computable transposition of the consciousness concepts into artificial brains, able to express emotions and consciousness facts. The production of such artificial brains allows the intentional and really adaptive behavior for the autonomous robots. Such a system managing the robot’s behavior will be made of two parts: the first one computes and generates, in a constructivist manner, a representation for the robot moving in its environment, and using symbols and concepts. The other part achieves the representation of the previous one using morphologies in a dynamic geometrical way. The robot’s body will be seen for itself as the morphologic apprehension of its material substrata. The model goes strictly by the notion of massive multi-agent’s organizations with a morphologic control.
TL;DR: The author presents a new methodology for the study of two fundamental components of consciousness, that is thought and language, and formulates the hypothesis that these theories could allow us to look in a new way at the problem of the (partial) artificial reproduction of the human activity ofthought and language.
Abstract: In this article, the author presents a new methodology for the study of two fundamental components of consciousness, that is thought and language. The fundamental presupposition that forms the basis of this methodology is that thought is not simply a passive “reflection” of an external “reality”, but also (and especially) something active, i.e. that the fundamental components of thought are sequences of operations, amongst which the ones of attention play a key role. These sequences of elementary mental operations are called mental categories, and are the meanings of all the words that do not seem to indicate something physical (first of all, all the “grammatical” words, that is conjunctions, prepositions, articles, pronouns, fundamental verbs like “to be”, “to have” etc., the main adverbs, and, in the large number of languages that have a more or less rich morphology, all morphemes (the ones which indicate cases, in languages that have cases, the number and the gender of nouns and adjectives, moods and tenses of the verb etc.). The author proposes a list of these elementary mental operations and he shows how it is possible, basing ourselves on them, to identify the meanings of these words, which are indispensable for any linguistic expression. The author also mentions a possible short-term practical application of these theories, i.e. a device in order to improve the quality of machine translation. He also formulates the hypothesis that these theories could allow us to look in a new way at the problem of the (partial) artificial reproduction of the human activity of thought and language.
TL;DR: It is argued that landmarkedness is not an inherent property of some object, but rather the result of this tri-lateral configuration, and the basic idea is to use this configuration to define the individual components that contribute to the total salience of the object and integrate them in a coherent framework.
Abstract: Background
Landmarks play an important role for the understanding of and reasoning about physical large-scale space. Landmarks also play an important role in every day’s spatial tasks, such as wayfinding and navigation. The property of being a landmark has so far been attributed to distinct objects, which are either well known or otherwise unique, such as the Eiffel Tower or a lighthouse on the shore. We propose a framework for the assessment of the landmarkedness of potential landmarks for wayfinding tasks, which is based on the relationship between observer, physical environment, and potential landmark. We argue that landmarkedness is not an inherent property of some object, but rather the result of this tri-lateral configuration. The basic idea is to use this configuration to define the individual components that contribute to the total salience of the object and integrate them in a coherent framework.
TL;DR: The object-spatial imagery questionnaire (OSIQ) as discussed by the authors has been proposed by Blajenkova et al. to assess object and spatial imagers' ability to represent and transform spatial relations.
Abstract: Background and aims Neuropsychological studies with brain damaged patients and neuroimaging studies with healthy subjects demonstrated that imagery is not a unified construct and distinct object and spatial imagery subsystems have been reported. More recently, research on individual differences has also provided evidence for two different types of imagers, namely Object and Spatial imagers (Kozhevnikov et al. 2005). Object imagers use imagery to create detailed and pictorial images of the shapes of objects, they perform very well on object imagery tasks and score poorly on spatial imagery tasks. Spatial imagers, that use imagery to represent and transform spatial relations, show a reversed pattern of performance. Differences were also found in perceptual processing: object imagers encode visual stimuli holistically while spatial imagers process figures analytically. A new self-report instrument, the object-spatial imagery questionnaire (OSIQ), has been proposed by Blajenkova et al. (Applied Cognitive Psychology, in press) to directly assess the two typologies.In the present studies we examined the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the OSIQ (Study 1) and we investigated its relationship with performance in a visuo-spatial memory task (Study 2). Study 1 Methods
TL;DR: The lack of a relationship to memory impairment suggests that this is not the critical factor in spatial disorientation and is consistent with the relationship between impaired visual motion processing and ambulatory and vehicular navigation in AD.
Abstract: Spatial awareness is dependent on the cortical areas of the temporal–parietal junction and on a larger parietal–frontal network communicating via the superior occipito–frontal fasciculus. The hippocampal formation may enhance the spatial information processed within short term memory with cognitive information through the neocortical–hippocampal loop of the newly acquired spatial information. Several aspects of spatial cognitive performance have been found to be significantly and positively correlated with striatal DA (D2 and to a lesser extent D1) receptor availability, where sub-clinical variations in striatal DA (D2) receptors may have measurable behavioural consequences. Visual speed of processing and attention are impaired in early phases of Parkinson’s disease (PD), where visual attention impairments may underlie some of the cognitive deficits observed in this disease. Visual attentional impairment in PD may involve dopaminergic and cholinergic mechanisms at cortical and subcortical levels. Functional neuroimaging in PD shows hypoperfusion in the occipital and parietal regions, even in patients without dementia. The degenerative process in PD begins in the brainstem and ascends to involve the anteromedial temporal mesocortex and high-order sensory association and prefrontal areas. The resulting decline in visual function affects basic sensory functions, visual perception, and cognition and is present in mild to moderate PD, owing to degeneration of multiple neuronal systems at retinal, subcortical, and cortical levels. Visual dysfunction contributes to parkinsonian disability through its influences on cognition and locomotion. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) presents with progressive memory loss and cognitive impairments. More than one-third of patients with AD have disabling visuospatial disorientation that interferes with safe driving and independent living. Hippocampal involvement in patients with early stages of AD could impair landmark orientation by undermining the role of hippocampal place neurons in maintaining cognitive maps. This would force patients with AD to rely on path integration that may be maintained by parietal cortical integration of self movement cues. Involvement of parietal cortex in the later stages of AD could impair path integration, leaving patients with AD without a viable orientation mechanism and causing spatial disorientation. Both age and AD affect spatial orientation. Elderly nondemented subjects with isolated spatial deficits may have a spatial variant of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Such monosymptomatic syndromes may identify patients who are at greater risk for developing AD and who may be good candidates for focused monitoring and possible treatment. The lack of a relationship to memory impairment suggests that this is not the critical factor in spatial disorientation and is consistent with the relationship between impaired visual motion processing and ambulatory and vehicular navigation in AD, possibly reflecting posterior parietal cortical dysfunction in integrating multisensory cues about self-movement. In dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) spatial function is disproportionately severe early in the course of the disease compared to AD. The distinctive patterns of neuropsychological impairment in these diseases probably represent a different distribution of pathological changes. The neuropathological substrate of AD affects preferentially the entorhinal cortex and the neocortical association areas, which explains the dysfunction with encoding and storing information; in DLB subcortical nucleus together with frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes are mostly affected by neuronal loss and Lewy body deposition, justifying the predominantly attentional, executive, and visuospatial dysfunction found in this disease.
TL;DR: The primary goal of the research is to reveal what information is available to people as they are recalling the locations and the spatial relationships, from which information about the overall configuration can be easily extracted.
Abstract: Two studies investigate the nature of representations in spatial working memory, directly addressing the question of whether people represent the configuration information above and beyond independ...
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that deploying social guards does not increase cognitive load if the guards are implemented in a highly distributed connectionist economy or off-loaded to the external environment.
Abstract: Clark and Chalmers (1998) have argued that mental states can be extended outside an organism's skin. In response to some worries about the availability, reliability and portability of such extended resources, Clark (2005) offers a set of rough criteria that non-biological objects must fulfil to legitimately ground mental states. One such criterion is that the information retrieved from these non-biological sources be (more or less) automatically endorsed. But Sterelny (2003, 2005) has persuasively argued that the extended sphere is epistemologically opaque: a domain of contested truth and deliberate deception. As such, retrieving information from this domain requires the deployment of social guards for the information to remain reliable. But deploying such guards would seem to endanger endorsability by increasing cognitive load. Here I demonstrate that deploying social guards does not increase cognitive load if the guards are implemented in a highly distributed connectionist economy or off-loaded to the external environment.
TL;DR: In this paper, the distinction between visual imagery and spatial imagery was examined and the ecological validity of this distinction was further examined by examining individual differences in mental imagery that relied on a key distinction regarding visual imagery.
Abstract: In the current research, we took a new approach to examining individual differences in mental imagery that relied on a key distinction regarding visual imagery, namely the distinction between object and spatial imagery, and further examined the ecological validity of this distinction. Object imagers consistently prefer to construct colorful, pictorial, high-resolution images of individual objects and scenes, and spatial imagers prefer to use imagery to schematically represent spatial relations among objects and can efficiently perform complex spatial transformations. To examine the ecological validity of the object versus spatial imager distinction, we examined the object and spatial imagery preferences and skills of groups of professionals. Visual artists, scientists, architects, and humanities professionals completed two types of imagery tests: spatial imagery tests assessing abilities to process spatial relations and perform spatial transformations, and object imagery tests assessing abilities to process literal appearances of objects in terms of color, shape, and brightness. A clear distinction was found between scientists and visual artists: Visual artists showed above average object imagery abilities but below average spatial imagery abilities; whereas, scientists showed above average spatial imagery abilities but below average object imagery abilities. Visual artists tended to be object imagers, and scientists tended to be spatial imagers. Thus, even though both groups use visual imagery extensively in their work, they in fact tended to excel in only one type of imagery. Furthermore, we interviewed the groups of professionals about imagery characteristics and imagery processes that they typically use when work, we had them interpret kinematics graphs and abstract art, and we monitored their eye-movements as they engaged in various perception and imagery tasks. The data revealed various qualitative differences between the professional groups. Both visual artists and scientists reported using imagery in their work. However, visual artists preferred to use object imagery, but scientists preferred to use spatial imagery for their work. Humanities professionals, however, reported less use of imagery. Additionally, visual artists reported that their images were more likely to come as a whole, but scientists reported that their images were generated part-by-part. Visual artist’s images were more persistent, less intentional, and had multiple meanings as compared to scientist’s images. Furthermore, visual artists and scientists interpreted kinematics graphs and abstract art qualitatively differently. Visual artists tended to interpret graphs literally (graphs-as-pictures), but scientists tended to interpret graphs schematically, in abstract way. However, visual artists tended to interpret the abstract art as abstract representations, but scientists tended to interpret abstract art literally, in a concrete way. The finding that professional domain, where work involves extensive use of object or spatial imagery, differentially predicted object and spatial imagery abilities and approaches in processing visual information provides ecological validation of the distinction between object and spatial imagers. Furthermore, these results provide support for the idea of a trade-off between object and spatial imagery abilities (i.e., a person being more effective at using one type of imagery and then tending to use this type of imagery more frequently than and at the expense of the other type of imagery).
TL;DR: The present study is aimed at observing: the cerebral circuit underling the auditory meridian effect; whether this circuit is related with the network involved in reorienting the focus of attention toward stimuli appearing at an unattended location; whether a functional temporal dynamics can be defined in these areas.
Abstract: The visual meridian effect, as a consequence of programming the necessary ocular movements for visual object localization (Rizzolatti et al. 1987), was interpreted as an evidence of a supramodal network for visual attention to space, which may be critical for reorienting the focus of attention toward stimuli appearing at unattended locations. This hypothesis was confirmed in a behavioural study also for auditory and for bimodal audio–visual stimulation (Ferlazzo et al. 2001). The present study is aimed at observing: the cerebral circuit underling the auditory meridian effect; whether this circuit is related with the network involved in reorienting the focus of attention toward stimuli appearing at an unattended location; whether a functional temporal dynamics can be defined in these areas.
TL;DR: A mathematical model inspired by viability theory developed to implement the use of strategies during learning is presented, which complements existing models of the BG based on reinforcement learning (RL), which do not take into account theUse of strategies to reduce the dimension of the learning space.
Abstract: Conditional visuo-motor learning consists in learning by trial and error to associate visual cues with correct motor responses, that have no direct link. Converging evidence supports the role of a large brain network in this type of learning, including the prefrontal and the premotor cortex, the basal ganglia BG and the hippocampus. In this paper we focus on the role of a major structure of the BG, the striatum. We first present behavioral results and electrophysiological data recorded from this structure in monkeys engaged in learning new visuo-motor associations. Visual stimuli were presented on a video screen and the animals had to learn, by trial and error, to select the correct movement of a joystick, in order to receive a liquid reward. Behavioral results revealed that the monkeys used a sequential strategy, whereby they learned the associations one by one although they were presented randomly. Human subjects, tested on the same task, also used a sequential strategy. Neuronal recordings in monkeys revealed learning-related modulations of neural activity in the striatum. We then present a mathematical model inspired by viability theory developed to implement the use of strategies during learning. This model complements existing models of the BG based on reinforcement learning RL, which do not take into account the use of strategies to reduce the dimension of the learning space.
TL;DR: In this article, the use of specific spatial objects to facilitate escaping from an indoor environment in a crisis situation is discussed and a computational model tested in an indoor complex building during fire emergencies.
Abstract: Simulation of human behavior in space is a powerful research method to advance our understanding of the interaction between people and their environment. It allows for both the examination and testing of models and their underlying theory of cognitive and perceptual phenomena as well as the observation of the system's behavior. This paper outlines the use of specific spatial objects to facilitate escaping from an indoor environment in a crisis situation. To represent and simulate people's processes of wayfinding it is necessary to understand how people immediately make sense of spatial situations while performing a wayfinding task which will occur in a building during fire emergencies. The theoretical outset of the research is the observation that humans show distinct behavioral and cognitive preferences when dealing with wayfinding tasks in dangerous situations. The goal of the research is to organize environmental cues and to use them in decision-making and navigation in an indoor environment in a fire emergency. Construction and inspection of mental representations of spatial environments and exploring these models have been discussed and the proposed computational model tested in an indoor complex building. Initial results verify the reliability of the model.
TL;DR: This research addresses the issue of transducing data, such as recorded by sensor networks into conceptual knowledge, and the formal characterization of these conceptualizations is necessary to automate the identification and characterization of conceptual structures that discretize continuous dynamic processes into conceptual units.
Abstract: Dynamic aspects of geographic-scale phenomena form a growing topic in spatial sciences As the technology advances, for example, in monitoring such phenomena using sensor networks (Worboys and Duckham, to appear), the need for a basic understanding of the conceptualization of dynamic processes by cognitive agents becomes pertinent The formal characterization of these conceptualizations is necessary to automate the identification and characterization of conceptual structures that discretize continuous dynamic processes into conceptual units This research addresses the issue of transducing data, such as recorded by sensor networks into conceptual knowledge
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the relationship among buildings' age, familiarity and expressed aesthetical preference, and found that a big difference could be found among the buildings built after and before 1950s.
Abstract: Mura 2005), a big difference could be found among the buildings built after and before 1950s. Furthermore we hypothesize that preference for buildings is related to the complexity of the facades— higher in most ancient buildings—because of the process of structuration of a specific visual environment. This process has been analysed according to the rules of perception of the macro-morphemes from the level of the road: exterior walls, roof, window openings, entrance, principal divisions of the solid and other large elements (Niezabitowski 2001–2002, p 5). The appreciation for western cities characterized in a different way by modern or ancient architecture (renaissance, modern, contemporary) was analysed to understand if the preference derives from the identification with the social group (preference for the historical buildings of one’s own city) or from a more general preference for ancient architectural typologies. Starting from this consideration, our research aims to deepen the relationships among buildings’ age, familiarity and expressed aesthetical preference. Twenty-one buildings of the city of Cagliari, divided into
TL;DR: In this article, Giusberti et al. examined the effect of visuo-spatial ability on way-finding performance in young (5-6 years) and old (9-10 year) children.
Abstract: In literature, there are not many studies which have investigated the relation between visuo-spatial ability and wayfinding in real world. In general, these works could be classified into two types: self-assessment studies, in which researchers ask people about their wayfinding ability, their type of navigation strategies or their daily spatial behaviour, in particular their awareness of orientation and their memory for usual spatial behaviour (e.g. Kato and Takeuchi 2003, Prestopnik and Roskos-Ewoldsen 2000); and behavioural studies, in which researchers ask a person to solve visuo-spatial tasks and perform wayfinding tasks. Our work uses this type of investigation method. The few studies presented in literature have shown mixed results. For example, Rovine and Weisman (1989) examined the relation between visuo-spatial ability, measured by spatial relation test and embedded figure test and wayfinding. They did not find any correlation between spatial relation test and wayfinding performance while embedded figure test scores were significantly correlated to wayfinding measures. To date, Blajenkova et al. (2005) have showed that individual differences in visuo-spatial ability, measured by a mental rotation test, resulted in differences in wayfinding performance. In general, there is little agreement in literature on the role plays from visuo-spatial ability to improve wayfinding performance. From our point of view, these results are biased by considering the visuo-spatial ability as a unique instead of a multi-component ability (Giusberti and Nori 1999). In particular, experiments that investigated spatial ability are concentrated on the study of a specific spatial aspect, that is the ability to use simultaneous spatial information. On the contrary, spatial memory is not an unitary but a multi-component system and it includes a wide range of abilities: visual, sequential and simultaneous. The importance of looking at specific subcomponents of spatial memory is supported by the visuo-spatial working memory, which is the cognitive system involved during the resolution of visuo-spatial tasks, proposed by Logie (1995). Fenner et al. (2000) have overcome this problem using six different tasks that are able to measure the different aspects of visuo-spatial ability. In their research, the authors examined the effect of visuo-spatial ability on wayfinding performance in young (5–6 years) and old (9–10 year) children. Results revealed that young children with high visuo-spatial ability (HV-SA) exhibited superior wayfinding compared to low visuospatial ability (LV-SA) children. This effect was not present in old children. In spite of these results, the aim of our work was to examine which may be the influence of visuo-spatial ability, considered as a multi-component ability, on wayfinding performance. Particularly, we predict that: HV-SA participants perform the wayfinding better and faster than LV-SA participants who should hesitate more than high visuo-spatial ability participants, during R. Nori (&) AE S. Grandicelli AE F. Giusberti Dipartimento di Psicologia, Universita di Bologna, Bologna, Italy e-mail: raffaella.nori@unibo.it Cogn Process (2006) 7 (Suppl. 1):S135–S137 DOI 10.1007/s10339-006-0104-4
TL;DR: In this article, a haptic spatial orientation task (parallel setting of two bars) is presented, which shows a beneficial effect of a delay between examining the reference bar and setting the test bar, and of non-informative vision.
Abstract: Visual processing mechanisms are critically important for perceiving spatial features of our surroundings. This also appears to be so in situations where vision is absent. We will present data from a haptic spatial orientation task (parallel setting of two bars), which show a beneficial effect of a delay between examining the reference bar and setting the test bar, and of noninformative vision (viewing the general setup but not the relevant bar orientations). These results suggest that over time haptic information might be translated into visuospatial representations which support performance. In line with this, blind individuals performed worse than blindfolded sighted participants on comparable haptic spatial tests, in particular congenitally blind did so. Together, these results suggest a recoding of the haptic information into a more abstract spatial representation during processing in working memory.