Representation of impossible worlds in the cognitive map
Representation of impossible worlds in the cognitive map
复制标题
DOI：
10.1007/s10339-015-0705-x
复制
发表时间：
2015-09-01
影响因子：
1.7
通讯作者：
Schill, Kerstin
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kluss, Thorsten;Marsh, William E.;Schill, Kerstin
人们经常假设人类将大范围的空间环境表示为认知地图，但这些表示的确切特征仍然不清楚。我们使用不可能世界范式来研究这种表示的结构，方法是测试由任意违反几何规则的虚拟环境(VE)提供的信息是否被纠正(“扭曲”)以与地图一样的结构兼容。实验是在使用自然运动界面的虚拟现实中进行的。受试者的任务是仔细地探索可能的和不可能的VES以实现“完全理解”。在每次试验后，他们必须在视觉线索贫乏的VE中从记忆中盲目地再现通过环境的路径。我们没有发现任何证据表明不可能的VE的盲目复制存在角度或构型扭曲或改变。盲目复制表明不可能的VE不需要转换为“可能的”格式来适应认知地图。这表明，在有限的解释意义上，这种表示可能并不类似于地图，但需要更普遍的概念来理解它。
It is often assumed that humans represent largescale spatial environments as cognitive maps, but the exact features of these representations are still unclear. We investigate the structure of this representation with the impossible worlds paradigm by testing whether the information provided by virtual environments (VEs) with arbitrary violations of geometrical rules is rectified ("distorted'') to become compatible with a map-like structure. The experiments were conducted in virtual reality using a natural locomotion interface. The subjects' task was to explore possible and impossible VEs carefully to achieve a "full understanding''. After each trial, they had to "blindly'' reproduce the path through the environment from memory in a VE with impoverished visual cues. We have found no evidence for angular or configurational distortions or alterations in the blind reproductions of impossible VEs. Blind reproduction indicates that impossible VEs do not require a transformation into a "possible'' format to make them fit into the cognitive map. This suggests that the representation may not be similar to a map in a bounded sense of interpretation but requires more generalized concepts for its understanding.