PSY 217 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Idiothetic, Cognitive Map, Proprioception
5 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Spatial Cognition
●Cognitive maps: mental representation of the environment around us ->
How can we study people’s cognitive maps? What can this tell us about
people’s mental representation of the environment?
●Tolman’s studies of rats introduced the idea of a cognitive map
●Lynch (1960) had people draw sketch maps of their cities -> describe
routes, list vivid elements then he analysed data and looked for patterns
●Lynch found 5 common features in sketch maps:
1. Paths
2. Edges
3. Districts
4. Landmarks
5. Nodes
●Appleyard (1970) had people draw sketch maps of cities in Venezuela ->
Found two broad stylistic categories
1. Routes: Appleyard called these “sequential maps” (left)
2. Surveys: Appleyard called these “spatial maps” (right)
●Verbal directions also seem to involve a route or survey perspective
●Egocentric navigation requires updating your current position e.g. Dead
reckoning – keeping track of where you are by:
1. How long you travelled
2. How far you’ve travelled
3. How fast you are travelling
● Egocentric navigation can involve:
1. Visual cues (landmarks)
2. Vestibular cues (head-turning)
3. Proprioceptive cues (self-motion)
●Allocentric navigation doesn’t require you to keep track and update
where you are
●Allocentric navigation involves cues from the environment:
1. Landmarks
2. Perceived direction of gravity
3. Position of the sun
●Shelton & McNamara (2001): Allocentric orientation is biased by
egocentric experience and layout cues i.e. decide what “due north” is
based on what we see in front of us (egocentric) -> Especially when our
line of sight is parallel to the layout - regardless of whether it is actually
due north
●IV: participants studied layout of objects from aligned and misaligned
views -> aligned view parallel to walls and floor mat
●Task: judge direction based on memory e.g. “Imagine you are standing at
the book and facing the wood. Point to the shoe.”
●DV: pointing accuracy
●Results: very accurate for imagined views parallel to the aligned study
view e.g. “at the book and facing the wood.”
●Results: no more accurate for imagined views parallel to the misaligned
study view -> e.g., “at the lamp and facing the wood” than for unfamiliar
imagined views -> “at the wood and facing the shoe”
●But also some evidence that language affects spatial cognition -> Dutch
mostly Egocentric = “left”, “right”, “front”, “back”
●Tenejapans mostly Allocentric = “north”, “west”, “east”, “south”
●Brown & Levinson (1993) presented Dutch and Tenejapans speakers with
objects -> rotated 180°
●Task: “position animals in the same way as before”
●Most Dutch used egocentric orientation (e.g., crab facing to the right)
●Most Tenejapans used allocentric orientation (e.g., crab facing north)
●Kosslyn argues cognitive maps are represented in memory in two ways:
1. Categorical= relative position
2. Coordinate= absolute distance
●Evidence: left brain hemisphere: categorical, right brain hemisphere:
coordinate
●Kosslyn presented blobs -> Dot: On or off blob? Within 2mm of blob?
●DV: reaction time -> LVF = right hemisphere, RVF = left hemisphere
●Left hemisphere faster for on/off (categorical)
●Right hemisphere faster for within 2mm (coordinate)
●Kosslyn has also argued that the coordinate representation is analog ->
Like a “picture in the head”
●Evidence: mental scanning
Document Summary
Co(cid:469)niti(cid:622)e maps: mental (cid:568)ep(cid:568)esentation o(cid:468) the en(cid:622)i(cid:568)onment a(cid:568)ound us -> Tolman"s studies o(cid:468) (cid:568)ats int(cid:568)odu(cid:428)ed the idea o(cid:468) a (cid:428)o(cid:469)niti(cid:622)e map. V(cid:629)n(cid:428)h (cid:1634)(cid:1487)(cid:1495)(cid:1492)(cid:1486)(cid:1635) had people d(cid:568)a(cid:623) sket(cid:428)h maps o(cid:468) thei(cid:568) (cid:428)ities -> des(cid:428)(cid:568)i(cid:427)e (cid:568)outes, list (cid:622)i(cid:622)id elements then he anal(cid:629)sed data and looked (cid:468)o(cid:568) patte(cid:568)ns. V(cid:629)n(cid:428)h (cid:468)ound (cid:1491) (cid:428)ommon (cid:468)eatu(cid:568)es in sket(cid:428)h maps: (cid:1487). Apple(cid:629)a(cid:568)d (cid:1634)(cid:1487)(cid:1495)(cid:1493)(cid:1486)(cid:1635) had people d(cid:568)a(cid:623) sket(cid:428)h maps o(cid:468) (cid:428)ities in venezuela -> Found t(cid:623)o (cid:427)(cid:568)oad st(cid:629)listi(cid:428) (cid:428)ate(cid:469)o(cid:568)ies (cid:1487). boutes: apple(cid:629)a(cid:568)d (cid:428)alled these (cid:1657)se(cid:567)uential maps(cid:1658) (cid:1634)le(cid:468)t(cid:1635) (cid:1488). Ve(cid:568)(cid:427)al di(cid:568)e(cid:428)tions also seem to in(cid:622)ol(cid:622)e a (cid:568)oute o(cid:568) su(cid:568)(cid:622)e(cid:629) pe(cid:568)spe(cid:428)ti(cid:622)e. E(cid:469)o(cid:428)ent(cid:568)i(cid:428) na(cid:622)i(cid:469)ation (cid:568)e(cid:567)ui(cid:568)es updatin(cid:469) (cid:629)ou(cid:568) (cid:428)u(cid:568)(cid:568)ent position e. (cid:469). Dead (cid:568)e(cid:428)konin(cid:469) keepin(cid:469) t(cid:568)a(cid:428)k o(cid:468) (cid:623)he(cid:568)e (cid:629)ou a(cid:568)e (cid:427)(cid:629): (cid:1487). Allo(cid:428)ent(cid:568)i(cid:428) na(cid:622)i(cid:469)ation doesn"t (cid:568)e(cid:567)ui(cid:568)e (cid:629)ou to keep t(cid:568)a(cid:428)k and update (cid:623)he(cid:568)e (cid:629)ou a(cid:568)e. Allo(cid:428)ent(cid:568)i(cid:428) na(cid:622)i(cid:469)ation in(cid:622)ol(cid:622)es (cid:428)ues (cid:468)(cid:568)om the en(cid:622)i(cid:568)onment: (cid:1487). vandma(cid:568)ks (cid:1488). Iv: pa(cid:568)ti(cid:428)ipants studied la(cid:629)out o(cid:468) o(cid:427)je(cid:428)ts (cid:468)(cid:568)om ali(cid:469)ned and misali(cid:469)ned (cid:622)ie(cid:623)s -> ali(cid:469)ned (cid:622)ie(cid:623) pa(cid:568)allel to (cid:623)alls and (cid:468)loo(cid:568) mat.
