Ebook: The Construction of Cognitive Maps

and processes which are exclusive to humans in their encoding, storing, decoding and retrieving spatial knowledge for various tasks. The authors present and discuss connectionist models of cognitive maps which are based on local representation, versus models which are based on distributed representation, as well as connectionist models concerning language and spatial relations. As is well known, Gibson's (1979) ecological approach suggests a view on cognition which is diametrically different from the classical main stream view: perception (and thus cognition) is direct, immediate and needs no internal information processing, and is thus essentially an external process of interaction between an organism and its external environment. The chapter by Harry Heft introduces J. J. Gibson's ecological approach and its implication to the construction of cognitive maps in general and to the issue of wayfinding in particular. According to Heft, main stream cognitive sciences are essentially Cartesian in nature and have not as yet internalized the implications of Darwin's theory of evolution. Gibson, in his ecological approach, has tried to do exactly this. The author introduces the basic terminology of the ecological approach and relates its various notions, in particular optic flow, nested hierarchy and affordances, to navigation and the way routes and places in the environment are learned.

---

This book sheds light on processes associated with the construction of cognitive maps, that is to say, with the construction of internal representations of very large spatial entities such as towns, cities, neighborhoods, landscapes, metropolitan areas, environments and the like. Because of their size, such entities can never be seen in their entirety, and consequently one constructs their internal representation by means of visual, as well as non-visual, modes of sensation and information - text, auditory, haptic and olfactory means for example - or by inference. Intersensory coordination and information transfer thus play a crucial role in the construction of cognitive maps. Because it involves a multiplicity of sensational and informational modes, the issue of cognitive maps does not fall into any single traditional cognitive field, but rather into, and often in between, several of them. Thus, although one is dealing here with processes associated with almost every aspect of our daily life, the subject has received relatively marginal scientific attention.
The book is directed to researchers and students of cognitive mapping and environmental cognition. In particular it focuses on the cognitive processes by which one form of information, say haptic, is being transformed into another, say a visual image, and by which multiple forms of information participate in constructing cognitive maps.

---

This book sheds light on processes associated with the construction of cognitive maps, that is to say, with the construction of internal representations of very large spatial entities such as towns, cities, neighborhoods, landscapes, metropolitan areas, environments and the like. Because of their size, such entities can never be seen in their entirety, and consequently one constructs their internal representation by means of visual, as well as non-visual, modes of sensation and information - text, auditory, haptic and olfactory means for example - or by inference. Intersensory coordination and information transfer thus play a crucial role in the construction of cognitive maps. Because it involves a multiplicity of sensational and informational modes, the issue of cognitive maps does not fall into any single traditional cognitive field, but rather into, and often in between, several of them. Thus, although one is dealing here with processes associated with almost every aspect of our daily life, the subject has received relatively marginal scientific attention.
The book is directed to researchers and students of cognitive mapping and environmental cognition. In particular it focuses on the cognitive processes by which one form of information, say haptic, is being transformed into another, say a visual image, and by which multiple forms of information participate in constructing cognitive maps.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-x
The Construction of Cognitive Maps: An Introduction....Pages 1-7
Front Matter....Pages 9-9
Inter-Representation Networks and Cognitive Maps....Pages 11-43
Synergetics, Inter-Representation Networks and Cognitive Maps....Pages 45-67
Neural Network Models of Cognitive Maps....Pages 69-85
Connectionist Models in Spatial Cognition....Pages 87-104
The Ecological Approach to Navigation: A Gibsonian Perspective....Pages 105-132
Verbal Directions for Way-Finding: Space, Cognition, and Language....Pages 133-153
Front Matter....Pages 155-155
From Visual Information to Cognitive Maps....Pages 157-186
Constructing Cognitive Maps With Orientation Biases....Pages 187-213
Cognitive Mapping and Wayfinding by Adults Without Vision....Pages 215-246
The Construction of Cognitive Maps by Children with Visual Impairments....Pages 247-273
Language as a Means of Constructing and Conveying Cognitive Maps....Pages 275-295
Modes of Linearization in the Description of Spatial Configurations....Pages 297-318
Front Matter....Pages 319-319
Modeling Directional Knowledge and Reasoning in Environmental Space: Testing Qualitative Metrics....Pages 321-344
Mapping as a Cultural Universal....Pages 345-360
Back Matter....Pages 361-365

---

This book sheds light on processes associated with the construction of cognitive maps, that is to say, with the construction of internal representations of very large spatial entities such as towns, cities, neighborhoods, landscapes, metropolitan areas, environments and the like. Because of their size, such entities can never be seen in their entirety, and consequently one constructs their internal representation by means of visual, as well as non-visual, modes of sensation and information - text, auditory, haptic and olfactory means for example - or by inference. Intersensory coordination and information transfer thus play a crucial role in the construction of cognitive maps. Because it involves a multiplicity of sensational and informational modes, the issue of cognitive maps does not fall into any single traditional cognitive field, but rather into, and often in between, several of them. Thus, although one is dealing here with processes associated with almost every aspect of our daily life, the subject has received relatively marginal scientific attention.
The book is directed to researchers and students of cognitive mapping and environmental cognition. In particular it focuses on the cognitive processes by which one form of information, say haptic, is being transformed into another, say a visual image, and by which multiple forms of information participate in constructing cognitive maps.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-x
The Construction of Cognitive Maps: An Introduction....Pages 1-7
Front Matter....Pages 9-9
Inter-Representation Networks and Cognitive Maps....Pages 11-43
Synergetics, Inter-Representation Networks and Cognitive Maps....Pages 45-67
Neural Network Models of Cognitive Maps....Pages 69-85
Connectionist Models in Spatial Cognition....Pages 87-104
The Ecological Approach to Navigation: A Gibsonian Perspective....Pages 105-132
Verbal Directions for Way-Finding: Space, Cognition, and Language....Pages 133-153
Front Matter....Pages 155-155
From Visual Information to Cognitive Maps....Pages 157-186
Constructing Cognitive Maps With Orientation Biases....Pages 187-213
Cognitive Mapping and Wayfinding by Adults Without Vision....Pages 215-246
The Construction of Cognitive Maps by Children with Visual Impairments....Pages 247-273
Language as a Means of Constructing and Conveying Cognitive Maps....Pages 275-295
Modes of Linearization in the Description of Spatial Configurations....Pages 297-318
Front Matter....Pages 319-319
Modeling Directional Knowledge and Reasoning in Environmental Space: Testing Qualitative Metrics....Pages 321-344
Mapping as a Cultural Universal....Pages 345-360
Back Matter....Pages 361-365
....