Mental Representations of Spatial and Nonspatial Relations

这项研究关注的是人们如何记忆空间和非空间信息。该项目将研究(a)照片记忆，(b)空间记忆的度量结构，以及(c)记忆和检索理论的约束。一系列的11个实验将研究对照片和其他三维空间布局的二维投影的记忆。这些研究的主要目标是确定场景的哪些三维属性是在该场景的照片的心理表征中编码的。此外，这些实验将确定在图像感知过程中何时提取二维和三维空间关系。这些研究的结果将对当前的视觉感知理论产生影响。这些理论中的许多假设，深度的空间关系是从二维的信息中推断出来的（例如，视网膜图像）。换句话说，在某些二维空间关系被感知之前，某些三维空间关系不应该可用。这一预测将在本研究中得到验证。第二组六个实验将探讨空间表征的度量结构。这些实验将表明空间记忆经常违反度量（如欧几里得）表征、片段可加性和对称性的两个基本公理。最后的四组实验将检验启动效应的范围。启动指的是对一个项目（如狮子）的反应可能对后续项目（如老虎）的反应产生的促进效应。一些记忆理论预测，只有当项目直接相关（例如，狮子-老虎）时，启动才会发生。其他理论预测，即使项目被两个或三个联想步骤分开（例如，分别是狮子条纹和鬃毛条纹），启动也会发生。两个实验将确定启动效应在词汇（单词与非单词）决策和识别中的范围，两个计算机模拟将评估记忆的神经网络模型受研究结果约束的程度。

This research is concerned with how people remember spatial and nonspatial information. The project will examine (a) memory for photographs, (b) the metric structure of spatial memories, and (c) constraints on theories of memory and retrieval. A series of eleven experiments will investigate memory for photographs and other two-dimensional projections of three-dimensional spatial layouts. The principal goal of these studies is to determine which three-dimensional properties of a scene are encoded in the mental representation of a photograph of that scene. In addition, these experiments will determine when two- and three- dimensional spatial relations are extracted during picture perception. The results from these studies will bear on current theories of visual perception. Many of these theories assume that spatial relations in depth are inferred from information given in two dimensions (e.g., retinal images). In other words, some three-dimensional spatial relations should not be available until certain two-dimensional spatial relations have been perceived. This prediction will be tested in this research. A second set of six experiments will investigate the metric structure of spatial representations. These experiments are expected to show that spatial memories often violate two fundamental axioms of metric (e.g., Euclidean) representation, segmental additivity and symmetry. The final set of four experiments will examine the range of priming effects. Priming refers to the facilitative effects that responding to an item (e.g., lion) may have on responding to a subsequent item (e.g., tiger). Several theories of memory predict that priming will occur only if items are directly associated (e.g., lion-tiger). Other theories predict that priming will occur even if items are separated by two or three associative steps (e.g., lion-stripes and mane-stripes, respectively). Two experiments will establish limits on the range of priming effects in lexical (word vs. nonword) decisions and in recognition, and two computer simulations will assess the extent to which neural-network models of memory are constrained by the findings.