Representation of space: image-like or sensorimotor?
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Abstract:
We investigate the relation between the physical world and its mental representation in the 'cognitive map', and test if this representation is image-like and complies with the laws of Euclidean geometry. We have developed a new experimental technique using 'impossible' virtual environments (VE) to directly influence the representational development. Subjects explore a number of VEs – some 'normal', others with severe violations of Euclidean metrics or planar topology. We check if these manipulated properties cause problems in navigation performance. A consistent VE should be easily represented mentally in a map-like fashion, while a VE with severe violations should prove difficult. Surprisingly, we found no substantial influence of the impossible VEs on navigation performance, and forced-choice tests showed little evidence that subjects were aware of manipulations. This suggests that the representation does not resemble a two-dimensional image-like map. Alternatives to consider are sensorimotor and graph-like representations.
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PDF URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156856809789476074
Reference:
Representation of space: image-like or sensorimotor? (Christoph Zetzsche, Kerstin Schill, Johannes Wolter, Christopher Galbraith), In Spatial Vision, Brill Academic Publishers, volume 22, 2009.
Bibtex Entry:
@Article{Zetzsche2009,
  author    = {Christoph Zetzsche and Kerstin Schill and Johannes Wolter and Christopher Galbraith},
  title     = {Representation of space: image-like or sensorimotor?},
  journal   = {Spatial Vision},
  year      = {2009},
  volume    = {22},
  number    = {5},
  pages     = {409--424},
  month     = {sep},
  abstract  = {We investigate the relation between the physical world and its mental representation in the 'cognitive map', and test if this representation is image-like and complies with the laws of Euclidean geometry. We have developed a new experimental technique using 'impossible' virtual environments (VE) to directly influence the representational development. Subjects explore a number of VEs -- some 'normal', others with severe violations of Euclidean metrics or planar topology. We check if these manipulated properties cause problems in navigation performance. A consistent VE should be easily represented mentally in a map-like fashion, while a VE with severe violations should prove difficult. Surprisingly, we found no substantial influence of the impossible VEs on navigation performance, and forced-choice tests showed little evidence that subjects were aware of manipulations. This suggests that the representation does not resemble a two-dimensional image-like map. Alternatives to consider are sensorimotor and graph-like representations.},
  doi       = {10.1163/156856809789476074},
  publisher = {Brill Academic Publishers},
  url       = {10.1163/156856809789476074">http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156856809789476074},
}