Showing papers on "Cognitive map published in 2003"

Unpacking the cognitive map: The parallel map theory of hippocampal function

Abstract: In the parallel map theory, the hippocampus encodes space with 2 mapping systems. The bearing map is constructed primarily in the dentate gyrus from directional cues such as stimulus gradients. The sketch map is constructed within the hippocampus proper from positional cues. The integrated map emerges when data from the bearing and sketch maps are combined. Because the component maps work in parallel, the impairment of one can reveal residual learning by the other. Such parallel function may explain paradoxes of spatial learning, such as learning after partial hippocampal lesions, taxonomic and sex differences in spatial learning, and the function of hippocampal neurogenesis. By integrating evidence from physiology to phylogeny, the parallel map theory offers a unified explanation for hippocampal function.

Fuzzy Cognitive Maps and Neutrosophic Cognitive Maps

Abstract: In this book we study the concepts of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) and their Neutrosophic analogue, the Neutrosophic Cognitive Maps (NCMs).Fuzzy Cognitive Maps are fuzzy structures that strongly resemble neural networks, and they have powerful and far-reaching consequences as a mathematical tool for modeling complex systems. Neutrosophic Cognitive Maps are generalizations of FCMs, and their unique feature is the ability to handle indeterminacy in relations between two concepts thereby bringing greater sensitivity into the results. Some of the varied applications of FCMs and NCMs which has been explained by us, in this book, include: modeling of supervisory systems; design of hybrid models for complex systems; mobile robots and in intimate technology such as office plants; analysis of business performance assessment; formalism debate and legal rules; creating metabolic and regulatory network models; traffic and transportation problems; medical diagnostics; simulation of strategic planning process in intelligent systems; specific language impairment; web-mining inference application; child labor problem; industrial relations: between employer and employee, maximizing production and profit; decision support in intelligent intrusion detection system; hyperknowledge representation in strategy formation; female infanticide; depression in terminally ill patients and finally, in the theory of community mobilization and women empowerment.

Group cognitive mapping: a methodology and system for capturing and evaluating managerial and organizational cognition

Abstract: Organizations would like to capture and merge the perceptions of key individuals into an organizational memory. Various cognitive mapping approaches have been used to identify and capture these perceptions. However, merging the cognitive maps of individuals into a collective cognitive map to represent the shared perceptions has been problematic. Due to the merging problems, the creation of collective cognitive maps is impractical for many organizational situations. In this paper, we describe and demonstrate a cognitive mapping based methodology and system that eliminates the merging problem, supports data collection, and provides data analyses to uncover both individual and collective cognitive maps.

The evolution of the cognitive map.

Abstract: The hippocampal formation of mammals and birds mediates spatial orientation behaviors consistent with a map-like representation, which allows the navigator to construct a new route across unfamiliar terrain. This cognitive map thus appears to underlie long-distance navigation. Its mediation by the hippocampal formation and its presence in birds and mammals suggests that at least one function of the ancestral medial pallium was spatial navigation. Recent studies of the goldfish and certain reptile species have shown that the medial pallium homologue in these species can also play an important role in spatial orientation. It is not yet clear, however, whether one type of cognitive map is found in these groups or indeed in all vertebrates. To answer this question, we need a more precise definition of the map. The recently proposed parallel map theory of hippocampal function provides a new perspective on this question, by unpacking the mammalian cognitive map into two dissociable mapping processes, mediated by different hippocampal subfields. If the cognitive map of non-mammals is constructed in a similar manner, the parallel map theory may facilitate the analysis of homologies, both in behavior and in the function of medial pallium subareas.

Instructional tools for nursing education: concept maps.

Abstract: Students must deal with vast amounts of information in multiple formats, yet their ability to organize and link data in a logical way varies widely. Concept mapping offers nurse educators a useful tool to assist nursing students in wading through and critically analyzing this information more effectively. This article explains concept/cognitive mapping as a teaching strategy for several aspects of course work. Types and examples of maps developed by undergraduate and graduate students are used as illustrations and points of discussion. Illustrations are assessed according to type of map, information presented, aspects of the maps that facilitate meaningful learning, and what information is missing. Strategies for remediation to help learners assimilate new information are included. Finally, implementation of mapping in nursing education and ideas for research in concept/cognitive mapping are discussed.

A cognitive map simulation approach to adjusting the design factors of the electronic commerce web sites

Abstract: The electronic commerce (EC) has been widely studied in the academic as well as practical fields. Especially, a lot of special topics regarding the EC such as B2C and B2B have been investigated in literature. However, there are much less studies about the EC sites themselves. Besides, only a few studies exist about the issues regarding how to adjust the design factors of the EC sites. The main objective of this study is to fill this research void by employing two techniques: (1) cognitive map and (2) linear structural relationship (LISREL). The cognitive map was used to operationalize the causal relationships among design factors of the EC sites, and investigate the simulation to find the optimal strategy of adjusting the design factors. The LISREL was performed to prove the proposed research model, where original Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) [Davis MIS Q. 13 (1989) 319] is adopted as a basic framework for providing causal relationships. Usable questionnaires were collected from 114 respondents who are proved to be qualified for this study. They were educated to surf two typical EC sites appropriately and tested before answering the questionnaires. Those respondents who completed questionnaires successfully were given a book coupon of 5$ equivalent. After LISREL experiments, the proposed research model was tested, and an adjacency matrix was induced which is to be used for the cognitive map simulation. With the adjacency matrix and 15 hypothetical market situations, the cognitive map simulations were successfully performed yielding that the proposed two techniques could be used for successfully adjusting the design factors of the EC sites under consideration in line with the changes in customers' tastes and market situations. One of the noticeable practical advantages of this study is that decision makers can identify the most relevant design factors and thereby allocate limited resources to them reasonably by performing the cognitive map simulation in advance before doing design adjustment to the EC sites in actuality.

Hierarchical representation of satisfactory consumer service experience

Abstract: What conceptual organization underlies evaluative judgments in the mind of consumers? Drawing from the theory of cognitive schemata and from means‐end theory, here we show that customer evaluations can be represented as a set of self‐relevant, interconnected and hierarchically organized elements. Elements of the hierarchy are components of a satisfactory service experience that range from concrete service attributes (such as staff kindness), to higher level benefits (such as the feeling of being looked after), to more abstract values (such as happiness). To construct a hierarchical map of components and explain overall satisfaction the laddering technique was applied to a sample of hotel customers. Results suggest that the links between concrete attributes, high‐level benefits, and values provide a better explanation of overall satisfaction than service attributes alone.

Investigating the Syntax Line: Configurational Properties and Cognitive Correlates

Abstract: Space syntax research has had significant success over the years and has served to illustrate the importance of configurational measures, especially those that take into account all the spaces in a system Here, assumptions of axial lines as elementary spatial units have been overwhelming Although based on a theoretical construct of visibility, this postulation has rarely been extended to perception or cognition and this has given rise to questions about geometric and metric considerations The research presented here was carried out in three large urban hospitals In them, 128 volunteers performed ‘open searches’, where they attempted to become familiar with the hospital; ‘directed searches’, where they sought specific locations; and various cognitive mapping tasks such as pointing to locations that were not within sight and sketching the main corridors and routes of the hospital The hospitals themselves were analyzed through conventional syntax measures of axial lines and a segmented version of those

A blind person's cognitive mapping of new spaces using a haptic virtual environment

Abstract: Mental mapping of spaces is essential for the development of efficient orientation and mobility skills. Most of the information required for mental mapping is gathered through the visual channel. Blind people lack this crucial information, facing in consequence difficulties in mapping as well as navigating spaces. The work reported here is based on the assumption that the supply of appropriate spatial information through compensatory sensorial channels may contribute to blind people's spatial performance. The main goals of this study were: (a) the development of a haptic virtual environment enabling blind people to learn about real life spaces; (b) the study of blind people's cognitive mapping of these spaces; and (c) the study of the contribution of this mapping to blind people's spatial skills and performance in the real environment. The focus of this paper is on a case study of G, a 25-year-old late blind. The results were encouraging: G mastered the ability to navigate the virtual environment in a short time; after navigating, he generated a verbal description and a physical model of it which unveiled a fairly precise map of a space he did not know before; and finally G showed impressive navigating performance in the real space.

Vector grammar, places, and the functional role of the spatial prepositions in English

Abstract: This chapter shows how different prepositions specify different aspects of the location vectors and of the spatial extents of the fields in different directions. Animal studies provide evidence that vector-based representations are employed in spatial cognition. This work addresses the issue of how different spatial relations are encoded within a vector-based representation called a cognitive map, which is an absolute or allocentric spatial representation of the environment. This chapter introduces the Boundary Vector Cell model, which assumes that place cells —representing certain locations in space—take their input from Boundary Vector Cells (BVCs). The properties of the BVCs and place cells cooperate to form graded regions; regions that are not isotropic, but represent a continuous acceptability gradient for many different spatial prepositions.

Anticipatory robot navigation by simultaneously localizing and building a cognitive map

Abstract: This paper presents a method for a mobile robot to construct and localize relative to a "cognitive map", where the cognitive map is assumed to be a representational structure that encodes both spatial and behavioral information. The localization is performed by applying a generic Bayes filter. The cognitive map was implemented within a behavior-based robotic system, providing a new behavior that allows the robot to anticipate future events using the cognitive map. One of the prominent advantages of this approach is elimination of the pose sensor usage (e.g., shaft encoder, compass, GPS, etc.), which is known for its limitations and proneness to various errors. A preliminary experiment was conducted in simulation and its promising results are discussed.

Aging, spatial behavior and the cognitive map.

Abstract: Hippocampal neurons are thought to form a cognitive map of the environment based on multiple cues. A new study shows that young animals switch between cues more easily than aged animals and also perform better on a spatial learning task.

Spatial Representations and Spatial Updating

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the basic properties of spatial representations for navigation, spatial reasoning, and object/scene recognition Contrary to the traditional models of allocentric cognitive maps, recent findings suggest that spatial representations for navigation, real world object and scene recognition, and spatial reasoning are primarily egocentric, and these egocentric representations are updated as the viewer moves The chapter highlights three observations of spatial representations The first observation focuses on the reference frame used for encoding spatial information and reviews evidence arguing for allocentric representations in traditional models of navigation, spatial reasoning, and object recognition, and discusses recent findings supporting an alternative, egocentric updating model The second observation focuses on the structure of spatial representations and discusses the traditional hierarchical models and two recent studies suggesting that spatial representations of nested environments learned through navigation are fragmented by nature, rather than integrated hierarchical networks The last observation summarizes findings on both the reference frame and the structure of spatial representations The nature of spatial representations is a central issue in many areas of cognitive psychology—for example, object recognition depends on how an object's geometric structure is encoded; navigation is determined by the nature of the underlying spatial representation of the environment; spatial inference and reasoning depend on how spatial relationships are represented; and so on

Hierarchical cognitive maps

Abstract: We describe a computational model of spatial navigation based on experimental studies conducted with human participants. The model builds and uses a hierarchical cognitive map of a large environment. Computer simulations show that the model correctly describes experimental results including hierarchical organization of space and distance estimation. Furthermore, the model predicts that reaction time for distance estimation varies nonlinearly with distance.

A model of hierarchical cognitive map and human-like memory designed for reactive and planned navigation

Abstract: In the behavioural animation field of research, the simulation of populated virtual cities requires that agents are able to navigate autonomously through their environment. It is of interest to tend to the most realistic human-like planning and navigation. In order to do so, we have designed a navigation system for autonomous agents, which implements theoretical views from the field of human behaviour in urban environments. We started from the assumptions that it would be interesting to merge a spatial cognitive map model with a model of human memory, and that the representation of space in the cognitive map would be hierarchical. An interest of our approach is that the agent navigation can be seen as a planned and reactive navigation loop generated in real time. We use a semantically and geometrically informed hierarchical topological graph as a representation of a large environment to be navigated in. Our model of the cognitive map has a topological and hierarchical graph structure which partially maps the regions of the environment the agent has explored during the simulation. This map can be seen as a filter on the environment. It does not contain geometrical or semantic information about the urban objects encountered, but only controls the partial access to the database while the agent recalls or perceives the urban objects. As a simplified model of human memory, we use the recall and recognition attributes, and their respective thresholds of activation to parameterize the cognitive map in two different ways.

Cognitive Maps and Urban Travel

Abstract: The focus of this chapter is an examination of the relationship between cognitive maps and travel behavior in urban environments. We do this examination incrementally, beginning with clarifications of terms relating to cognitive maps, cognitive mapping and wayfinding. We then emphasize transportation-related issues such as cognizing of transportation networks, path selection, wayfinding and navigation. We further examine problems of selecting paths to destinations by using existing transport networks. We also introduce concerns relating to the role of trip purpose in path selection and discuss how different purposes spawn different path or route selection strategies. In a final section we briefly examine the interaction between cognitive maps, cognitive mapping, and current practice of travel choice modeling.

Spatial learning: cognitive mapping in abstract virtual environments

Abstract: This paper presents the novel idea of using the cognitive mapping process to teach relationships between data items, called the spatial learning method. To investigate the feasibility of the method, a VE based on a data set was created. Three studies using this VE were run concurrently on a single set of 40 participants. The findings showed that while most participants formed a cognitive map of the VE, the learning of the underlying data set varied greatly between participants and that participants who attended the conventional lecture performed significantly better at the learning test than participants who were taught via the spatial learning method.

Cause maps and school leaders’ tacit knowledge

Abstract: The complexity of the work of school leaders has intensified in recent years. The basic assumption underlying this article is that school leaders should develop a coherent vision of the school to effectively cope with the increased complexity of their work. In order to develop such a coherent vision, integration at a cognitive level is needed. In order to gain insight into both the complexity and integrity of the visions of school leaders, their tacit knowledge is studied using cause maps. More specifically, a method to elicit and interpret cause maps is explored and the analysis of the tacit knowledge, as expressed in the structure and content of their cause maps, indeed shows them to differ with regard to the level of cognitive integrity and balance within their cognitive repertoires.

Experiential learning through constructivist learning tools

Abstract: As computer-based visualizations like those in virtual reality and modelling for design and idea generation become more common, research interest may shift into a new and highly intriguing field: the question of how to promote a new type of visualization that is based on human conceptual imagination rather than the conventional perception of the 3D world around us. This is not an essentially new step, as we have already extended our naturalistic way of displaying what we saw into the more or less abstracted indication of what we take as crucial behind the meaning and impact of the issue, as in, for example, quantitative graphs, schematic displays of complex functioning, not to forget the topographical map itself. Maps may suggest that you see a landscape from a bird's-eye perspective. However, we soon perceive that without filtering and articulation there is no conveyance of thought and navigation. As visualization techniques develop, we attempt to display conceptual entities rather than reminiscences to objects and physical space. Concept mapping is the most salient exemplar in this new line. The paradigm is that any mental entity or process may appear in a spatial configuration of both concrete and abstract ideas. The further formalisms-how to control expressiveness and topology by pruning and zooming--are a matter of conventions that should fit in the contract between a task, its user, and the concrete representational device like a white board or a computer screen. Some tasks inherently aim at configurational awareness, such as planning and decision-making. Some tasks address the more intuitional stages of human thinking, like learning, persuasion, or worship. Concerning learning and teaching, the so-called instructional approach has almost become synonymous with effective cognitive growth. Over more recent years we have seen, however, that the cybernetic aspiration of the 1960s and 1970 has mainly led to an over-organization of study programmes and to students complaining that the school is like a factory and at the same time like a hospital. The term existential learning attempts to indicate the complement to this, in which the student is the main character in his or her longer-term development. Here we again start to accept that learning has lot to do with mental and emotional growth in which information access plays only a subordinate role.

Information processing: a critical literature review and future research directions

Abstract: This conceptual paper concerns information processing, and focuses on the methods and mechanisms used by marketers and academics in attempting to explore mental processes, particularly regarding perception and cognitive mapping in relation to marketing communications. The paper reviews the extensive literature in this domain, deriving information and models from a wide variety of disciplines including: 1. cognitive information processing, 2. attitudes and attitudinal change, 3. elaboration and receiver involvement, sub-routines and sub-processors, semiotics, cognitive science and psycholinguistics. The paper concludes by suggesting that each of these disciplines has a role to play in terms of future research direction, and that the field of information processing still provides a rich and fertile basis for significant developments to take place.

Spatial Cognition: From rats-research to multifunctional spatial assistance systems

Abstract: In 1948, the psychologist Edward Tolman described experiments in which rats were trained to follow a path through a complex maze to reach a food box. After the rats performed perfectly (chose the shortest way to reach the goal), the trained path was blocked; the rats had to select another path from a variety of alternatives. Astonishingly, most of the rats found a path that was close to the most direct connection to the food box, whereas not a single rat erroneously tried to follow the original path on which they had been trained. On the basis of these findings, Tolman argued the rats had “acquired not merely a strip-map . . . but, rather, a wider comprehensive map to the effect that the food was located in such and such a direction in the room” (p. 204). Tolman’s paper, entitled “Cognitive maps in rats and men,” marked the starting point of psychological spatial cognition research. Today there is a great body of evidence on how humans (and animals) learn routes, find ways, navigate through familiar and unknown environments, and on the strategies they use when they get lost. Contemporary research on robotics and AI is concerned with similar problems. For example, how must a mobile robot system be designed to improve its efficiency for tasks such as route choice and navigation? Certainly, the robot must acquire an internal representation of the environment – a cognitive map – and apply adequate procedures to plan movements. A related problem exists in the domain of geoinformatics. A geographic information system must be able to efficiently store, process, and retrieve geo-referenced data, i.e. data which is associated with locations defined in a geographic reference system. On the other hand, it should also interact with the user in a comprehensible way, that is, it should take the user’s mental representations of spatial knowledge into account. Applications such as location-based services, geovisualization or semantic information retrieval lead to an especially close interaction between human and machine reasoning. In the last years, a growing number of researchers from AI and robotics have addressed cognitive questions. Psychologists have become sensitive to the computational properties of robot navigation or issues of reasoning with diagrams and qualitative spatial representations. Research in this rapidly evolving interdisciplinary enterprise has a name: Spatial Cognition Research. Spatial Cognition: From Rat-Research to Multifunctional Spatial Assistance Systems

Modeling context-aware distributed knowledge

Abstract: This paper presents a multi-agent model to support decision-making in organizations. The model is characterized by being interactive, distributed, and incremental and by the use of cognitive maps to represent the knowledge of decision-making actors. The main proposition is to consider the context of concepts belonging to cognitive maps in a way that it represents agent’s mental states, allowing some kind of inference. To do so, context is conceptualized in cognitive maps, defining agent’s mental states from concepts being causally related to their context.

Probabilistic Fuzzy Cognitive Maps

Abstract: Kelly considered that there exist only increase an d decrease relationships between states of concepts in cognitive maps. The relatio nships between the cause and the effect concepts in kelly's cognitive map can be extended into fuzzy relationships by fuzzy cognitive map (FCM). In the viewpoin t of the authors, there does exist not only fuzzy relationships but also probabi listic relationships in the real world. A new cognitive map-probabilistic fuzzy cognitive map (PFCM) is presented based on the idea. In PFCM, relationships bet ween concepts can be binary set, fuzzy set or conditional probability, and the a dvantages of cognitive maps are preserved. To illustrate the application of PFCM , disassembling and assembling process of mechanical parts are simulated. The ex periment results show that PFCM is more flexible and robust than FCM.

Ontological Cognitive Map for Sharing Knowledge between Heterogeneous Businesses

Abstract: We consider that a cognitive map is one of the most efficient ways to solve problems such as the lack and uncertainty of knowledge on e-commerce. In this paper, we have designed knowledge management systems based on a cognitive map and ontology and have proposed an OntoCM (Ontological Cognitive Map) framework to collaboratively share knowledge between businesses by using an OntoCM Repository. Thereby, we have defined OntoCM operations to manipulate them such as expansion, contradiction, augmentation, and screener. Simulating synthesis patterns on OntoCM, we have extracted potential relationships between the existing concepts.

Knowledge Management Technology for Revealing Cognitive Diversity within a Management Team

Abstract: The cognitive diversity of top management teams has been shown to affect the performance of a firm. However, most approaches to measure cognitive diversity never attempt to open the "black box" to understand what makes up the cognitive diversity of the team. This research reports on an approach that identifies diverse belief structures, i.e., cognitive subgroups, through the use of causal mapping and cluster analysis. The procedures of the approach are automated using group support systems technology resulting a Group Cognitive Mapping System (GCMS). The results from a study of 13 top managers on a strategic planning team for an information services firm show that the use of causal mapping provides an efficient and effective way to identify idiosyncratic and shared knowledge among members of a top management team.

Cognitive Map of Conceptual Graphs: A Graphical Model to Help for Decision

Abstract: We propose a new model for decision support systems. A decision support system helps a user to make a choice between alternatives to reach a goal. The cognitive map model enables a user to visualize the influences of the alternatives, and to compute the propagation of influence on the goal. Like cognitive maps, our model offers a graphical representation of influences between notions (alternatives and goals). The distinctive feature of our model is that on a unique support, each notion is precisely defined by conceptual graphs. One of the major advantages of our model is the combination of operations of cognitive maps and operations of conceptual graphs. Firstly, the definition of a notion and the projection provides a solution to compute semantically linked notions. Secondly, original propagations can be computed from such semantically linked notions.

Using expert systems to build cognitive simulations

Abstract: Cognitive simulations are runnable computer programs for modeling human cognitive activities. Traditionally used to develop expert and learner models for intelligent tutoring systems, building simulations are also effective learning activities in psychology-related courses. Using inexpensive and easy-to-use expert system shells, students can develop simulations of cognitive processes. This article reports a case study where expert systems were used as a formalism for modeling metacognitive processes in a seminar. Building cognitive simulations engages intensive introspection, ownership, and meaning making in learners who build them.