Collaborative Research: Constructing Mental Images of Geologic Structures from Field Observations

研究人员提议进行一系列研究，涉及人们如何可视化和理解大规模地质结构，以及地球科学的教师应该如何最好地教授这些结构。这个项目将有助于学习空间认知的基本知识。调查人员将利用在拉蒙特-多尔蒂校园建造的人造地质露头和校园的桌面建筑模型进行一系列行为实验。这些露头，每个直径约一米，将在现实的尺度上(即，数百米宽)共同形成一个埋藏的地质结构，如盆地、对称向斜或不对称的向斜。露头彼此看不见，因此参与者需要整合所能看到的东西来构建整个结构的心理图像。参与者将被引导参观露头，然后就他们的表现进行测试(例如，要求选择准确的结构模型)。他们还将参加空间能力和语言空间学习风格的标准测试。研究人员将考察(A)新手在没有指导的情况下通过练习和重复进行露头任务的技能发展；(B)空间能力、学习风格和露头任务表现之间的关系；以及(C)专家、表现不佳的新手和表现优异的新手在完成露头任务时所使用的策略。

The investigators propose to conduct a series of studies concerning how it is that people visualize and comprehend large-scale geologic structures and how it is that instructors in Geoscience ought best to teach about them. This project will contribute to basic knowledge of spatial cognition. The investigators will conduct a series of behavioral experiments, using artificial geologic outcrops constructed on the Lamont-Doherty campus and using tabletop architectural models of the campus. The outcrops, each about a meter across, would together form a buried geologic structure, such as a basin, a symmetric syncline, or an asymmetric plunging syncline, at a realistic scale (i.e., hundreds of meters across). The outcrops will not be visible from each other, so the participants will need to integrate what can be seen to construct a mental image of the entire structure. Participants will be guided around the outcrops and then be tested on their representations (e.g., asked to choose accurate models of the structure). They will also take standard tests of spatial ability and verbal-spatial learning style. The investigators will examine (a) the development of skill on the outcrop task among novices through practice and repetition in the absence of instruction; (b) the relationship among spatial abilities, learning style, and performance on the outcrop task; and (c) strategies used by experts, low-performing novices, and high-performing novices in doing the outcrop task.