Comparative studies of spatial cognition

找到重要地点的能力对大多数生物的生存很重要。对生物体如何找到并导航到栖息地或食物来源等地方的比较研究揭示了一套丰富的机制，其中一些是跨物种通用的，另一些是更专门的。我的研究项目调查了从沙漠蚂蚁到人类的各种生物如何使用视觉线索来寻找地点。我和我的学生们对定位的各个方面都有深入的了解，比如鸟类和人类如何使用地标的度量信息来寻找目标，鸟类、鱼类和啮齿动物如何使用视觉线索和环境形状来定位，以及蚂蚁如何在导航中使用视觉线索。我们还进一步加深了相关过程的知识，如物体识别和记忆。在拟议的研究中，我们将继续通过在实验室和野外进行的任务来研究蚂蚁、鸟类和人类的空间认知和相关过程。我们将研究视觉线索的偏好如何根据它们在位置寻找中所起的功能作用而改变。例如，视觉线索可以用作确定航向的定向线索、朝向的信标、用于引导目标的地标、或用于检索其他空间信息的上下文线索。我们将试图阐明视觉线索如何服务于这些不同的功能，以及线索使用的层次如何根据视觉线索所起的作用而改变。其他实验将研究相关的过程，包括对物体的识别和识别，运动对物体感知的影响，以及隐藏物体时使用的策略。我们的研究将进一步了解对许多有机体的生存至关重要的基本认知能力。识别物种之间的共性和差异对于理解进化和生态压力如何塑造或限制认知过程的出现非常重要，它为使用动物模型研究行为和认知的神经基础的神经科学家提供了关键的基础。我们的研究也可能有助于计算机科学家创造能够导航并与世界互动的人工代理。

An ability to find important places is important for the survival of most organisms. Comparative studies that investigate how organisms find and navigate to places such as home or sources of food have revealed a rich set of mechanisms, some of which are general across species and some of which are more specialized. My research program investigates how organisms ranging from desert ants to humans use visual cues to find places. My students and I have advanced knowledge about various aspects of place finding, such as how birds and humans use metric information from landmarks to find a goal, how birds, fish and rodents use visual cues and environmental shape to orient, and how ants use visual cues in navigation. We have also furthered knowledge of related processes, such as object recognition and memory. In the proposed research, we will continue to investigate spatial cognition and related processes in ants, birds and humans using tasks conducted in the laboratory and in the field. We will examine how preference for visual cues may change depending on the functional role they play in place finding. For example, visual cues may serve as orienting cues to determining heading, beacons to head towards, landmarks for piloting to a goal, or context cues for retrieval of other spatial information. We will attempt to elucidate how visual cues serve these various functions and how the hierarchy of cue use may change depending on the role the visual cues serve. Other experiments will investigate related processes, including the identification and recognition of objects, the influence of motion on object perception, and the strategies used when hiding objects. Our investigations will further knowledge of fundamental cognitive abilities that are crucial to the survival of many organisms. Identifying commonalities and differences among species is important for understanding how evolutionary and ecological pressures shape or constrain the emergence of cognitive processes, and it provides critical groundwork for neuroscientists who use animal models to investigate the neural bases of behaviour and cognition. Our research may also benefit computer scientists in the quest to create artificial agents that can navigate and interact with the world.