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Standing on shoulders of a giant: Marcia Spetch’s contributions to the study of spatial reorientation. Behav Processes 2019; 160:33-41. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2018] [Revised: 12/20/2018] [Accepted: 12/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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2
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Legge ELG. Comparative spatial memory and cue use: The contributions of Marcia L. Spetch to the study of small-scale spatial cognition. Behav Processes 2019; 159:65-79. [PMID: 30611849 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.12.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2018] [Revised: 12/23/2018] [Accepted: 12/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Dr. Marcia Spetch is a Canadian experimental psychologist who specializes in the study of comparative cognition. Her research over the past four decades has covered many diverse topics, but focused primarily on the comparative study of small-scale spatial cognition, navigation, decision making, and risky choice. Over the course of her career Dr. Spetch has had a profound influence on the study of these topics, and for her work she was named a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science in 2012, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2017. In this review, I provide a biographical sketch of Dr. Spetch's academic career, and revisit her contributions to the study of small-scale spatial cognition in two broad areas: the use of environmental geometric cues, and how animals cope with cue conflict. The goal of this review is to highlight the contributions of Dr. Spetch, her students, and her collaborators to the field of comparative cognition and the study of small-scale spatial cognition. As such, this review stands to serve as a tribute and testament to Dr. Spetch's scientific legacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric L G Legge
- Department of Psychology, MacEwan University, 10700 - 104 Avenue, City Centre Campus, Edmonton, AB, T5J 4S2, Canada.
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3
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Sex differences and the effect of instruction on reorientation abilities by humans. Mem Cognit 2017; 46:566-576. [PMID: 29282642 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-017-0783-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
This study examined whether differences in the amount of information provided to men and women, in the form of verbal instruction, influenced their encoding during a reorientation task. When a navigator needs to orient, featural (e.g., colour or texture) and geometry (e.g., metric information) are used to determine which direction to begin traveling. The current study used a spatial reorientation task to examine how men and women use featural and geometric cues and whether the content of the task's instructions influenced how these cues were used. Participants were trained to find a target location in a rectangular room with distinctive objects situated at each corner. Once the participants were accurately locating the target, various tests manipulating the spatial information were conducted. We found both men and women encoded the featural cues, and even though the features provided reliable information, participants generally showed an encoding of geometry. However, when participants were not provided with any information about the spatial aspects of the task in the instructions, they failed to encode geometry. We also found that women used distant featural cues as landmarks when the featural cue closest to the target was removed, whereas men did not. Yet, when the two types of cues were placed in conflict, both sexes weighed featural cues more heavily than geometric cues. The content of the task instructions also influenced how cues were relied upon in this conflict situation. Our results have important implications for our understanding of how spatial cues are used for reorientation.
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Kimura K, Reichert JF, Olson A, Pouya OR, Wang X, Moussavi Z, Kelly DM. Orientation in Virtual Reality Does Not Fully Measure Up to the Real-World. Sci Rep 2017; 7:18109. [PMID: 29273759 PMCID: PMC5741741 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-18289-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2017] [Accepted: 12/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Adult participants learned to reorient to a specific corner inside either a real or virtual rectangular room containing a distinct featural object in each corner. Participants in the virtual-reality (VR) condition experienced an immersive virtual version of the physical room using a head-mounted display (HMD) and customized manual wheelchair to provide self-movement. Following a disorientation procedure, people could reorient by using either the geometry of the room and/or the distinct features in the corners. Test trials in which the different spatial cues were manipulated revealed participants encoded features and geometry in both the real and VR rooms. However, participants in the VR room showed less facility with using geometry. Our results suggest caution must be taken when interpreting the nuances of spatial cue use in virtual environments. Reduced reliability of geometric cues in VR environments may result in greater reliance on feature cues than would normally be expected under similar real-world conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazushige Kimura
- Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - James F Reichert
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Ashley Olson
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Omid Ranjbar Pouya
- Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Xikui Wang
- Department of Statistics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Zahra Moussavi
- Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Debbie M Kelly
- Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. .,Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
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Prete G, Fabri M, Foschi N, Tommasi L. Geometry, landmarks and the cerebral hemispheres: 2D spatial reorientation in split-brain patients. J Neuropsychol 2016; 12:248-270. [DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2016] [Revised: 11/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Prete
- Department of Psychological Science, Health and Territory; ‘G. d'Annunzio’ University of Chieti-Pescara; Italy
| | - Mara Fabri
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine; Neuroscience and Cell Biology Section; Polytechnic University of Marche; Ancona Italy
| | - Nicoletta Foschi
- Regional Epilepsy Center; Neurological Clinic; ‘Ospedali Riuniti’; Ancona Italy
| | - Luca Tommasi
- Department of Psychological Science, Health and Territory; ‘G. d'Annunzio’ University of Chieti-Pescara; Italy
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Lábadi B, Horváth DÁ, Palotai R. Do infants encode feature and geometry information in a two-dimensional space? Infant Behav Dev 2012; 35:408-16. [PMID: 22721741 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2012.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2011] [Revised: 09/10/2011] [Accepted: 02/28/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Geometric form perception and its role in reorienting process have been studied extensively in children, but little is known about its early origin in infancy. Here, we present findings of three experiments that used looking-time paradigm to test infants' sensitivity to geometric and feature information in two-dimensional visual display. One-year-old infants participated in spatial search tasks, which were manipulated regarding the display movement (static, visible rotation and invisible rotation) as a degree of disorientation. The results showed that infants were able to create expectation about a hiding location based on the geometry of a rectangle only in the directionally stable search space, whereas they were capable to use feature cues (color) for reorienting even in that condition when the spatial display was rotated and they were allowed to track the display motion. However, infants did not use either geometry or feature properties of 2-D space in an orientation invariant manner. The findings are discussed within the theory of reorientation with respect to the 2-dimensional space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatrix Lábadi
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Ifjúság u 6, 7624 Pécs, Hungary.
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Flores-Abreu IN, Hurly TA, Healy SD. One-trial spatial learning: wild hummingbirds relocate a reward after a single visit. Anim Cogn 2012; 15:631-7. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-012-0491-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2011] [Revised: 03/23/2012] [Accepted: 03/23/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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9
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From natural geometry to spatial cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2012; 36:799-824. [PMID: 22206900 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2011] [Revised: 12/07/2011] [Accepted: 12/13/2011] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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Prados J, Alvarez B, Reynolds G. Spatial integration in human geometry learning. Behav Brain Res 2011; 224:297-304. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2011.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2011] [Revised: 06/01/2011] [Accepted: 06/05/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Lourenco SF, Addy D, Huttenlocher J, Fabian L. Early sex differences in weighting geometric cues. Dev Sci 2011; 14:1365-78. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2011.01086.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Cole MR, Gibson L, Pollack A, Yates L. Potentiation and overshadowing of shape by wall color in a kite-shaped maze using rats in a foraging task. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2010.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Gould KL, Kelly DM, Kamil AC. What scatter-hoarding animals have taught us about small-scale navigation. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2010; 365:901-14. [PMID: 20156815 PMCID: PMC2830246 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2009.0214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Many animals use cues for small-scale navigation, including beacons, landmarks, compasses and geometric properties. Scatter-hoarding animals are a unique system to study small-scale navigation. They have to remember and relocate many individual spatial locations, be fairly accurate in their searching and have to remember these locations for long stretches of time. In this article, we review what is known about cue use in both scatter-hoarding birds and rodents. We discuss the importance of local versus global cues, the encoding of bearings and geometric rules, the use of external compasses such as the Sun and the influence of the shape of experimental enclosures in relocating caches or hidden food. Scatter-hoarding animals are highly flexible in how and what they encode. There also appear to be differences in what scatter-hoarding birds and rodents encode, as well as what scatter-hoarding animals in general encode compared with other animals. Areas for future research with scatter-hoarding animals are discussed in light of what is currently known.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristy L Gould
- Department of Psychology, Luther College, 700 College Drive, Decorah, IA 52101, USA.
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14
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Kelly DM. Features enhance the encoding of geometry. Anim Cogn 2009; 13:453-62. [PMID: 20012120 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-009-0296-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2009] [Revised: 11/06/2009] [Accepted: 11/17/2009] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Successful navigation within an environment requires that the traveler establish the correct heading--a process referred to as orienting. Many studies have now shown that humans and non-human animals can use the geometric properties of an enclosure to orient. In the present study, two groups of Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) were trained, in a reference memory task, to find food hidden in one of four containers arranged to form a rectangular array. One group had unique objects placed next to each of the containers, whereas the second group had identical objects placed next to each of the containers. Here, I show for the first time that for the Clark's nutcracker, the distinctive properties of these objects enhanced the encoding of the array's geometry compared to the learning of geometric properties from an array of identical objects, which remained at chance after substantial amounts of training. Subsequent transformation tests showed that an object not associated with reward, but sharing the same geometric properties as the correct object, may have had inhibitory qualities. Furthermore, by systematically removing objects from the array, I show that although nutcrackers encoded the geometry of the array, they did not encode a complete featural representation of the objects within the array.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debbie M Kelly
- Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, 9 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A5, Canada.
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15
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Legge ELG, Spetch ML, Batty ER. Pigeons' (Columba livia) hierarchical organization of local and global cues in touch screen tasks. Behav Processes 2008; 80:128-39. [PMID: 19022355 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2008.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2008] [Revised: 10/14/2008] [Accepted: 10/17/2008] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Redundant encoding of local and global spatial cues is a common occurrence in many species. However, preferential use of the each type of cue seems to vary across species and tasks. In the current study, pigeons (Columba livia) were trained in three experiments on a touch screen task which included redundant local positional cues and global spatial cues. Specifically, pigeons were required to choose the middle out of three choice squares, such that the position within the array provided local information and the location on the screen provided global information. In Experiment 1, pigeons were trained and tested on vertically aligned arrays. In Experiment 2, pigeons were trained and tested on horizontally aligned arrays, and in Experiment 3, pigeons were trained and tested with vertical, horizontal and diagonally aligned arrays. The results indicate that preference for cue type depends upon the type of spatial information being encoded. Specifically, on vertical and diagonally aligned arrays, pigeons preferred global cues, whereas on horizontally aligned arrays, pigeons preferred local cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric L G Legge
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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16
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Kelly DM, Bischof WF. Orienting in virtual environments: How are surface features and environmental geometry weighted in an orientation task? Cognition 2008; 109:89-104. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2008] [Revised: 07/12/2008] [Accepted: 07/18/2008] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Abstract
There is evidence that, from an early age, humans are sensitive to spatial information such as simple landmarks and the size of objects. This study concerns the ability to represent a particular kind of spatial information, namely, the geometry of an enclosed layout-an ability present in older children, adults, and nonhuman animals (e.g., Cheng, 1986; Hermer & Spelke, 1996). Using a looking-time procedure, 4.5- to 6.5-month-olds were tested on whether they could distinguish among the corners of an isosceles triangle. On each trial, the target corner was marked by a red dot. The stimulus (triangle with dot) appeared from different orientations across trials, ensuring that only cues related to the triangle itself could be used to differentiate the corners. When orientations were highly variable, infants discriminated the unique corner (i.e., the corner with the smaller angle and two equal-length sides) from a nonunique corner; they could not discriminate between the two nonunique corners. With less variable orientations, however, infants did discriminate between the nonunique corners of the isosceles triangle. Implications for how infants represent geometric cues are discussed.
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18
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Redhead ES, Hamilton DA. Interaction between locale and taxon strategies in human spatial learning. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2007. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2006.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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19
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Nardi D, Bingman VP. Asymmetrical participation of the left and right hippocampus for representing environmental geometry in homing pigeons. Behav Brain Res 2007; 178:160-71. [PMID: 17215051 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2006.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2006] [Revised: 12/08/2006] [Accepted: 12/12/2006] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Control, right and left HF lesioned homing pigeons (Columba livia) were trained to locate a goal in one corner of a rectangular enclosure with a distinctive feature cue. Probe tests revealed that all groups were able to encode in parallel geometric (enclosure shape) and feature information, and in the absence of one of them, they could us the other to locate the goal. However, left HF lesioned pigeons learned the task at a faster rate, and when the geometric and feature information were set in conflict, they relied more on the feature cue compared to control and right HF lesioned pigeons. It was also found that pigeons, independent of group, trained to a goal adjacent to the feature cue learned the task in fewer sessions and relied more on feature information compared to pigeons trained to a goal opposite the feature cue. The latter group relied more on geometric information. The results support the hypothesis that the left HF plays a more important role in the representation of a goal location with respect to environmental shape/geometry. We further propose that the observed functional asymmetry can be explained by the lateralized properties of the pigeon tectofugal visual system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Nardi
- Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA.
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20
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Gibson BM, Leichtman MD, Kung DA, Simpson MJ. Use of landmark features and geometry by children and adults during a two-dimensional search task. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2007. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2006.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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21
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Gray ER, Bloomfield LL, Ferrey A, Spetch ML, Sturdy CB. Spatial encoding in mountain chickadees: features overshadow geometry. Biol Lett 2007; 1:314-7. [PMID: 17148196 PMCID: PMC1617142 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2005.0347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Encoding the global geometric shape of an enclosed environment is a principal means of orientation in human and non-human animals. Animals spontaneously encode the geometry of an enclosure even when featural information is available. Although features can be used, they typically do not overshadow geometry. However, all previously tested organisms have been reared in human-made environments with salient geometrical cues. Here, we show that wild-caught mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) do not spontaneously encode the geometry of an enclosure when salient features are present near the goal. However, chickadees trained without salient features encode geometric information, but this encoding is overshadowed by features.
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Lourenco SF, Huttenlocher J. Using geometry to specify location: implications for spatial coding in children and nonhuman animals. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2006; 71:252-64. [PMID: 16983583 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-006-0081-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2005] [Accepted: 03/05/2006] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The study of spatial cognition has benefited greatly from a technique known as the disorientation procedure. This procedure was originally used with rats to show that they relied on the geometry of an enclosed space to locate a target hidden in that space. Disorientation has since been used with a variety of mobile animals, including human children, to examine the coding of geometric information. Here, we focus mostly on our recent work with young children. We examine a set of issues concerning reorientation--namely, the nature of geometric coding, the processes invoked by disorientation, and the developmental origins of using geometric information to determine location. We have employed a variety of methods to examine these issues; the methods include analyzing search behaviors, using spaces of different shapes, varying viewing position, and comparing different disorientation procedures. The implications for how children and nonhuman animals code geometric information are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stella F Lourenco
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, 5848 S. University Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
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Sturz BR, Bodily KD, Katz JS. Evidence against integration of spatial maps in humans. Anim Cogn 2006; 9:207-17. [PMID: 16767470 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-006-0022-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2006] [Revised: 03/13/2006] [Accepted: 03/22/2006] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
A dynamic 3-D virtual environment was constructed for humans as an open-field analogue of Blaisdell and Cook's (2005) pigeon foraging task to determine if humans, like pigeons, were capable of integrating separate spatial maps. Participants used keyboard keys and a mouse to search for a hidden goal in a 4x4 grid of raised cups. During Phase 1 training, a goal was consistently located between two landmarks (Map 1: blue T and red L). During Phase 2 training, a goal was consistently located down and left of a single landmark (Map 2: blue T). Transfer trials were then conducted in which participants were required to make choices in the presence of the red L alone. Cup choices during transfer assessed participants' strategies: association (from Map 1), generalization (from Map 2), or integration (combining Map 1 and 2). During transfer, cup choices increased to a location which suggested an integration strategy and was consistent with results obtained with pigeons. However, additional analyses of the human data suggested participants initially used a generalization strategy followed by a progressive shift in search behavior away from the red L. This shift in search behavior during transfer was responsible for the changes in cup choices across transfer trials and was confirmed by a control condition. These new analyses offer an alternative explanation to the spatial integration account proposed for pigeons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradley R Sturz
- Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA.
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Cheng K, Spetch ML, Kelly DM, Bingman VP. Small-scale spatial cognition in pigeons. Behav Processes 2006; 72:115-27. [PMID: 16481125 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2005.11.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2005] [Accepted: 11/28/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Roberts and Van Veldhuizen's [Roberts, W.A., Van Veldhuizen, N., 1985. Spatial memory in pigeons on the radial maze. J. Exp. Psychol.: Anim. Behav. Proc. 11, 241-260] study on pigeons in the radial maze sparked research on landmark use by pigeons in lab-based tasks as well as variants of the radial-maze task. Pigeons perform well on open-field versions of the radial maze, with feeders scattered on the laboratory floor. Pigeons can also be trained to search precisely for buried food. The search can be based on multiple landmarks, but is sometimes controlled by just one or two landmarks, with the preferred landmarks varying across individuals. Findings are similar in landmark-based searching on a computer monitor and on a lab floor, despite many differences between the two kinds of tasks. A number of general learning principles are found in landmark-based searching, such as cue competition, generalization and peak shift, and selective attention. Pigeons also learn the geometry of the environment in which they are searching. Neurophysiological studies have implicated the hippocampal formation (HF) in avian spatial cognition, with the right hippocampus hypothesized to play a more important role in the spatial recognition of goal locations. Most recently, single-cell recording from the pigeon's hippocampal formation has revealed cells with different properties from the classic 'place' cells of rats, as well as differences in the two sides of the hippocampus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken Cheng
- Centre for the Integrative Study of Animal Behaviour, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
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Cheng K, Newcombe NS. Is there a geometric module for spatial orientation? Squaring theory and evidence. Psychon Bull Rev 2005; 12:1-23. [PMID: 15945200 DOI: 10.3758/bf03196346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 331] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
There is evidence, beginning with Cheng (1986), that mobile animals may use the geometry of surrounding areas to reorient following disorientation. Gallistel (1990) proposed that geometry is used to compute the major or minor axes of space and suggested that such information might form an encapsulated cognitive module. Research reviewed here, conducted on a wide variety of species since the initial discovery of the use of geometry and the formulation of the modularity claim, has supported some aspects of the approach, while casting doubt on others. Three possible processing models are presented that vary in the way in which (and the extent to which) they instantiate the modularity claim. The extant data do not permit us to discriminate among them. We propose a modified concept of modularity for which an empirical program of research is more tractable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken Cheng
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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Cheng K, Gallistel CR. Shape Parameters Explain Data From Spatial Transformations: Comment on Pearce et al. (2004) and Tommasi & Polli (2004). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005; 31:254-9; discussion 260-1. [PMID: 15839781 DOI: 10.1037/0097-7403.31.2.254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In 2 recent studies on rats (J. M. Pearce, M. A. Good, P. M. Jones, & A. McGregor, see record 2004-12429-006) and chicks (L. Tommasi & C. Polli, see record 2004-15642-007), the animals were trained to search in 1 corner of a rectilinear space. When tested in transformed spaces of different shapes, the animals still showed systematic choices. Both articles rejected the global matching of shape in favor of local matching processes. The present authors show that although matching by shape congruence is unlikely, matching by the shape parameter of the 1st principal axis can explain all the data. Other shape parameters, such as symmetry axes, may do even better. Animals are likely to use some global matching to constrain and guide the use of local cues; such use keeps local matching processes from exploding in complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken Cheng
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
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Cheng K. Goldfish (Carassius auratus) matching geometric and featural cues: A reinterpretation of some of the data of Vargas, López, Salas, and Thinus-Blanc (2004). J Comp Psychol 2005; 119:455-7. [PMID: 16366779 DOI: 10.1037/0735-7036.119.4.455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Vargas, López, Salas, and Thinus-Blanc showed that goldfish (Carassius auratus) can use both geometric and featural cues in relocating a target corner in a rectangular enclosure. When featural cues (arrangement of striped walls) were put in conflict with geometric cues, results differed according to target location during training. Vargas, López, et al. explained the results of their cue conflict in terms of 2 different strategies: mapping and cue guidance. I provide an alternative, more parsimonious interpretation in which the same strategy of attempting to match as many cues as possible applies to both cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken Cheng
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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Abstract
Adult humans searched for a hidden goal in images depicting 3-dimensional rooms. Images contained either featural cues, geometric cues, or both, which could be used to determine the correct location of the goal. In Experiment 1, participants learned to use featural and geometric information equally well. However, men and women showed significant differences in their use of distant featural cues and the spontaneous encoding of geometric information when trained with features present. Transformation tests showed that participants could use either the color or the shape of the features independently to locate the goal. Experiment 2 showed that participants could use either configural or surface geometry when searching for the goal. However, their weighing of these geometric cues was dependent on initial training experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debbie M Kelly
- Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
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Kelley DM, Spetch ML. Reorientation in a Two-Dimensional Environment: II. Do Pigeons (Columba livia) Encode the Featural and Geometric Properties of a Two-Dimensional Schematic of a Room? J Comp Psychol 2004; 118:384-95. [PMID: 15584775 DOI: 10.1037/0735-7036.118.4.384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Pigeons (Columba livia) searched for a hidden target area in images showing a schematic rectangular environment. The absolute position of the goal varied across trials but was constant relative to distinctive featural cues and geometric properties of the environment. Pigeons learned to use both of these properties to locate the goal. Transformation tests showed that pigeons could use either the color or shape of the features, but performance was better with color cues present. Pigeons could also use a single featural cue at an incorrect corner to distinguish between the correct corner and the geometrically equivalent corner; this indicates that they did not simply use the feature at the correct corner as a beacon. Interestingly, pigeons that were trained with features spontaneously encoded geometry. The encoded geometric information withstood vertical translations but not orientation transformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debbie M Kelley
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
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