Reasoning and Inference in Spatial Knowledge Acquisition: The Cognitive Map As An Internalized GIS

现代地理信息系统（GIS）包含了许多功能，这些功能直接类似于人类通常在认知和评估空间时执行的任务。由于GIS已成为存储和分析空间参考信息的重要工具，并在经济、社会和环境规划中有许多实际应用，因此GIS中的知识配置准确反映人类认知空间和内部表示环境的方式非常重要。这个研究项目提出了一个问题，即空间的认知表征是否是一个内化的地理信息系统。它将确定编制和使用地理信息系统所涉及的选定进程与编制和使用认知地图所涉及的进程的相似程度。重点将放在推理和推理的类型，在认知绘图和地理信息系统所需的，以及对这些过程如何可以理解和解释的人。实验的目的是评估人类的能力，在执行这些活动，如识别邻接，连通性，网络成员，路径选择标准，进行分析和编译的覆盖和压缩程序，并进行邻里划定和区域化活动。目前还不清楚人类是如何执行这些活动的，也不清楚在执行这些活动时会出现什么类型的错误。心理学家、认知科学家、机器人专家、人工智能工程师和交通建模师对空间行为的跨学科研究正在迅速增加。对地理信息系统的设计和使用以及空间信息可视化、用户界面开发和用户友好表示模式等主题的行为研究，可以帮助软件和数据库开发人员改善与GIS的沟通、分析和理解。本项目将查明空间知识获取中普遍使用的空间认知过程与构成许多地理信息系统基础的空间处理和分析组成部分之间的理论和实践联系。

Contemporary geographical information systems (GIS) embody a number of functions that are directly analogous to tasks humans normally perform in cognizing and evaluating space. Since GIS have become important tools for storing and analyzing spatially referenced information and have many practical applications in economic, social, and environmental planning, it is important that the configuration of knowledge in GIS accurately reflects the ways in which humans cognize space and internally represent environments. This research project poses the question of whether a cognitive representation of space is an internalized geographic information system. It will determine the degree to which selected processes involved in compiling and using GIS are similar to those involved in compiling and using cognitive maps. Emphasis will be placed on the type of reasoning and the inference required in both cognitive mapping and GIS and on how such processes can be understood and interpreted by people. Experiments will be designed to evaluate human competence in performing such activities as recognizing adjacency, connectivity, network membership, path selection criteria, conducting analysis and compilation of overlay and compression procedures, and undertaking neighborhood delineation and regionalization activities. It is not well understood how humans perform these activities nor what types of errors arise when performing them. Interdisciplinary research on spatial behavior by psychologists, cognitive scientists, roboticists, artificial intelligence engineers and transport modelers is increasing rapidly. Behavioral research into the design and use of geographic information systems and on such topics as visualization of spatial information, development of user interfaces and user friendly representation modes can help software and data base developers improve communication, analysis, and understanding with GIS. This project will identify theoretical and practical links between the processes of spatial cognition used generally in spatial knowledge acquisition and the spatial processing and analysis components which form the basis of many geographical information systems.