SGER: Assessment of the Representation of Shape in Individuals from a Culture with Minimal Regular Simple Artifacts

SGER：对来自具有最少规则简单文物的文化的个体的形状表征的评估

• 批准号: 0426415
• 负责人: Irving Biederman
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Southern California
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-09-01 至 2006-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0426415&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SGER; Assessment; Representation; Shape; Individuals

In a fraction of a second-in a single glance-we comprehend complex scenes never encountered previously. What is the basis of this extraordinary capacity? A prominent theory of shape recognition holds that objects exist in memory as an arrangement of simple, regular, 2D and 3D geometrical shapes, such as bricks, cones, cylinders, wedges, circles, and squares. To see a novel scene is to make contact with these pre-prepared elementary shapes in memory, called geons. How does this extraordinary capacity arise? By one hypothesis, a rich early experience with natural extended contours would be sufficient. An alternative hypothesis is that geons derives from our early experience immersed in the geometry of a manufactured world. Would individuals from a culture with only minimal exposure to manufactured-world artifacts show the same kinds of perception as artifact-immersed college students? Would they, instead, have greater sensitivity for distinguishing among highly irregular shapes, such as bushes, clouds, or mountain ridges? Dr. Biederman and Marissa Nederhouser, M.A., will answer the latter questions in an investigation of shape discrimination by the Himba. The Himba are a semi-nomadic tribe in northern Namibia with minimal exposure to Western artifacts and a language that contains none of the terms for simple shapes (such as those listed for some of the geons). Ms. Nederhouser will be joining a British team studying color and linguistic discriminations. There is some urgency in this research because the Namibian government will soon expand tourism to this remote area, with the consequent increase of exposure to manufactured-world artifacts. Broader impacts of this research include a better understanding of natural diversity in a fundamental mental capability.

在几分之一秒的时间里——仅仅一瞥——我们就能理解以前从未遇到过的复杂场景。这种非凡能力的基础是什么？一个著名的形状识别理论认为，记忆中存在的物体是简单、规则、二维和三维几何形状的排列，如砖块、锥体、圆柱体、楔形、圆形和正方形。看到一个新奇的场景，就是与记忆中预先准备好的基本形状产生联系。这种非凡的能力是如何产生的？根据一种假设，拥有丰富的早期自然延伸轮廓的经验就足够了。另一种假设是，真理术源自我们早期沉浸在人造世界几何结构中的经验。来自一个很少接触人工制品的文化背景的人会表现出与沉浸在人工制品中的大学生相同的感知吗？相反，它们在区分高度不规则的形状（如灌木丛、云层或山脊）方面会有更高的灵敏度吗？比德曼博士和文学硕士玛丽莎·尼德豪瑟（Marissa Nederhouser）将在对Himba人的外形歧视的调查中回答后一个问题。辛巴人是纳米比亚北部的一个半游牧部落，他们很少接触西方文物，他们的语言中没有任何关于简单形状的术语（比如那些为一些geons列出的术语）。尼德豪斯女士将加入一个研究肤色和语言歧视的英国团队。这项研究有一些紧迫性，因为纳米比亚政府将很快扩大到这个偏远地区的旅游业，随之而来的是增加对制造业文物的接触。这项研究更广泛的影响包括更好地理解基本心理能力的自然多样性。