Collaborative Research : Differing Interpretations of Young Children's Geometric Skills

过去二十年的研究表明，各种各样的动物物种，包括鱼类、鸟类、非人类哺乳动物和人类，对封闭空间的几何特性（例如，定义围栏的墙壁的相对长度）都有很强的敏感性。他们利用这些信息在迷失方向后重建空间方向（Cheng, 1986; Hermer & Spelke, 1996；回顾，见Cheng &amp； Newcombe, in press）。此外，有人认为，这种几何处理构成了一种非几何信息通常无法理解的特殊认知模块（Cheng, 1986; Hermer & Spelke, 1996），信息的组合只有通过使用语言才能实现（Spelke & Hermer, 1996）。这些关于几何处理及其所谓的模块化的发现，令关注认知架构、比较认知、认知发展和语言在行为中的作用的广大研究人员感到兴奋。它们与关于知识在多大程度上是先天的还是环境可塑的这一热议问题有关。家长、教育工作者和决策者都有必要准确理解发展的本质。然而，有关这些建议的关键问题仍未解决。这项研究将解决两个方面的争议。首先，几何灵敏度的性质尚不清楚。我们将解决两个问题：几何编码是如何与观察者位置的表示相关联的，以及关于空间边的长度的信息是以绝对的方式（作为测量距离的某种心理等效）还是以相对的方式（作为某些长度比其他长度更长或更短）保留的。其次，几何信息被封装的说法以及除非使用语言来连接认知模块，否则地标不会与几何信息集成的相关观点受到质疑。另一种解释认为，几何信息和特征信息通常以一种取决于在特定情况下各种信息的相对有用性的方式整合。这个研究项目将对这些说法进行对比。

Research over the past two decades has revealed that a wide variety of animal species, including fish, birds, non-human mammals and humans, share a powerful sensitivity to the geometric properties of enclosing spaces (e.g., the relative length of walls defining enclosures). They use such information to reestablish spatial orientation after being disoriented (Cheng, 1986; Hermer & Spelke, 1996; for a review, see Cheng & Newcombe, in press). Further, it has been suggested that such geometric processing constitutes a specialized cognitive module that is normally impenetrable to nongeometric information (Cheng, 1986; Hermer & Spelke, 1996), with combination of information only made possible by use of language (Spelke & Hermer, 1996). These findings on geometric processing and its purported modularity have been exciting to a wide audience of researchers focused on cognitive architecture, comparative cognition, cognitive development, and the role of language in behavior. They are relevant to the hotly-debated issues concerning the extent to which knowledge is innate or environmentally plastic. Parents, educators and policy makers have a stake in accurate understanding of the nature of development.Vital issues concerning these proposals remain unsettled, however. This research will address controversy in two areas. First, the nature of geometric sensitivity is not yet clear. We will address two questions: how geometric coding is related to representations of viewer position, and whether information about the lengths of the sides of a space is retained in an absolute way (as some mental equivalent of a measured distance) or in a relative fashion (as some lengths being simply longer or shorter than others). Second, there is doubt about the claim that geometric information is encapsulated and the associated idea that landmarks are not integrated with geometric information unless language is used to link cognitive modules. An alternative account holds that geometric and featural information are normally integrated in a way that depends on the relative usefulness of various kinds of information in particular situations. This research project will contrast these accounts.