How coordinate and categorical spatial relations combine with egocentric and allocentric reference frames in a motor task: Effects of delay and stimuli characteristics

2015 ◽  
Vol 284 ◽  
pp. 167-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Ruotolo ◽  
Ineke van der Ham ◽  
Albert Postma ◽  
Gennaro Ruggiero ◽  
Tina Iachini
Author(s):  
Antonella Lopez ◽  
Alessandro Germani ◽  
Luigi Tinella ◽  
Alessandro Oronzo Caffò ◽  
Albert Postma ◽  
...  

Our spatial mental representations allow us to give refined descriptions of the environment in terms of the relative locations and distances between objects and landmarks. In this study, we investigated the effects of familiarity with the everyday environment, in terms of frequency of exploration and mode of transportation, on categorical and coordinate spatial relations, on young and elderly participants, controlling for socio-demographic factors. Participants were tested with a general anamnesis, a neuropsychological assessment, measures of explorations and the Landmark Positioning on a Map task. The results showed: (a) a modest difference in performance with categorical spatial relations; (b) a larger difference in coordinate spatial relations; (c) a significant moderating effect of age on the relationship between familiarity and spatial relations, with a stronger relation among the elderly than the young. Ceteris paribus, the role of direct experience with exploring their hometown on spatial mental representations appeared to be more important in the elderly than in the young. This advantage appears to make the elderly wiser and likely protects them from the detrimental effects of aging on spatial mental representations.


1999 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie T. Banich ◽  
Kara D. Federmeier

In this study we examined Kosslyn's (1987) claim that the right hemisphere exhibits a relative superiority for processing metric spatial relations, whereas the left hemisphere exhibits a relative superiority for processing categorical spatial relations. In particular, we examined whether some failures to observe strong visual field (VF) advantages in previous studies might be due to practice effects that allowed individuals to process tasks in alternative manners (e.g., to process a metric task using a categorical strategy). We used two versions of a task previously employed by Hellige and Michimata (1989) in which individuals judge the metric (distance) or categorical (above/below) spatial relations between a bar and a dot. In one version, the position of the bar was held static. In another, the bar's position varied. This manipulation prevented participants from using the computer screen as a reference frame, forcing them to compute the spatial relationships on the basis of the relevant items only (i.e., the bar and the dot). In the latter, but not the former version of the task we obtained evidence supporting Kosslyn's hypothesis, namely, a significant right visual field (RVF) advantage for categorical spatial processing and a trend toward a left visual field (LVF) advantage for metric spatial processing. Furthermore, the pattern of results for trials on which information was presented centrally (CVF trials) was similar to that observed on RVF trials, whereas the pattern for trials in which identical information was presented in each visual field (BVF trials) was similar to that observed on LVF trials. Such a pattern is consistent with Kosslyn's suggestion that categorical processing is better suited for cells with small receptive fields and metric processing for cells with larger receptive fields.


1997 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 803-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Vandierendonck ◽  
Gino De Vooght

The present article reports two experiments testing the use of working memory components during reasoning with temporal and spatial relations in four-term series problems. In the first experiment four groups of subjects performed reasoning tasks with temporal and with spatial contents either without (control) or with a secondary task (articulatory suppression, visuospatial suppression or central executive suppression). The second experiment tested the secondary task effects in a within-subjects design either on problems with a spatial content or on problems with a temporal content, and within each content domain either under conditions of self-paced or of fixed presentation of the premises. Both experiments found effects of all three secondary tasks on reasoning accuracy. This supports the hypothesis that the subjects construct spatial representations of the premise information with the support of visuo-spatial resources of working memory. The second experiment also showed that during premise intake, only visuo-spatial and central executive secondary tasks had an effect. The implications of the data for the working memory requirements of reasoning and for theories of linear reasoning are discussed.


1999 ◽  
Vol 48 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delphine Dépy ◽  
Joël Fagot ◽  
Jacques Vauclair

1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 386-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Carlson-Radvansky ◽  
Yuhong Jiang

Spatial relational terms are ambiguous because they can be defined by different and sometimes conflicting frames of reference. Previous research has suggested that multiple reference frames are simultaneously active before a reference frame is selected. Two experiments examined the on-line selection of a reference frame to determine whether it is assisted by inhibition. These experiments used a negative-priming paradigm in which access to a reference frame was assessed on trial n when that reference frame was either available but not selected or not available on trial n – 1. Significant negative priming was observed; it operated along the axis of the reference frame, encompassing both endpoints. In addition, reference-frame selection seems to be independent of object selection. We cast these findings within the view of negative priming as an inhibitory mechanism, and discuss their implications for the use of spatial relations.


2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1739-1753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prin X. Amorapanth ◽  
Page Widick ◽  
Anjan Chatterjee

Studies in semantics traditionally focus on knowledge of objects. By contrast, less is known about how objects relate to each other. In an fMRI study, we tested the hypothesis that the neural processing of categorical spatial relations between objects is distinct from the processing of the identity of objects. Attending to the categorical spatial relations compared with attending to the identity of objects resulted in greater activity in superior and inferior parietal cortices (especially on the left) and posterior middle frontal cortices bilaterally. In an accompanying lesion study, we tested the hypothesis that comparable areas would be necessary to represent categorical spatial relations and that the hemispheres differ in their biases to process categorical or coordinate spatial relations. Voxel-based lesion symptom mapping results were consistent with the fMRI observations. Damage to a network comprising left inferior frontal, supramarginal, and angular gyri resulted in behavioral impairment on categorical spatial judgments. Homologous right brain damage also produced such deficits, albeit less severely. The reverse pattern was observed for coordinate spatial processing. Right brain damage to the middle temporal gyrus produced more severe deficits than left hemisphere damage. Additional analyses suggested that some areas process both kinds of spatial relations conjointly and others distinctly. The left angular and inferior frontal gyrus processes coordinate spatial information over and above the categorical processing. The anterior superior temporal gyrus appears to process categorical spatial information uniquely. No areas within the right hemisphere processed categorical spatial information uniquely. Taken together, these findings suggest that the functional neuroanatomy of categorical and coordinate processing is more nuanced than implied by a simple hemispheric dichotomy.


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