Comparative studies of spatial cognition and decision making

空间认知与决策的比较研究

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-04133
• 负责人: Spetch, Marcia
• 金额: $ 3.57万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=589610
• 关键词: Comparative; studies; spatial; cognition; decision

I investigate basic cognitive processes that allow animals to interact effectively with their environment. One focus of my research program is spatial cognition, the ability to find and navigate to important places, which is important for all moving organisms. Comparative research has revealed a rich set of general and specialized mechanisms that allow various animals, including humans, to remember and navigate to places such as home and food sites. My students and I have increased knowledge about various aspects of spatial cognition, in a variety of species ranging from ants to humans. We have proposed two new lines of spatial research in humans and birds. One set of proposed experiments will investigate the use of surface height to reorient (regain a sense of direction) in enclosed environments. These studies will be important for evaluating theories of reorientation because height should be a salient reorientation cue according to some theories but not others. Another set of studies will investigate how information from multiple landmarks is integrated to determine where to search. We will use cue conflict tests to determine whether cue integration based on weighted averaging provides a better fit to search behaviour than other models. We will also investigate how different types of reliability (e.g., how stable the location is, or how often food is actually available) alter the weighting given to landmarks.

我研究基本的认知过程，使动物能够有效地与环境互动。我的研究项目的一个重点是空间认知，寻找和导航到重要地方的能力，这对所有移动的生物都很重要。比较研究揭示了一套丰富的一般和专门机制，使包括人类在内的各种动物能够记住和导航到诸如家和食物地点等地方。我和我的学生增加了关于空间认知各个方面的知识，从蚂蚁到人类。我们提出了人类和鸟类空间研究的两条新路线。其中一组实验将研究在封闭环境中使用表面高度来重新定向（重新获得方向感）。这些研究对于评估重定向理论将是重要的，因为根据某些理论，高度应该是一个突出的重定向线索，而不是其他理论。另一组研究将调查如何整合来自多个地标的信息，以确定在哪里搜索。我们将使用线索冲突测试，以确定是否线索整合加权平均的基础上提供了一个更好的适合搜索行为比其他模型。我们还将研究不同类型的可靠性（例如，位置有多稳定，或者食物实际上有多频繁）改变给予地标的权重。