Learning relative directions between landmarks in a desktop virtual environment

This study presents two experiments that examine howindividuals learn relative directions betweenlandmarks in a desktop virtual environment. Subjectswere presented snapshot images of different virtualenvironments containing distinguishing landmarks anda road network. Following the presentation of eachvirtual environment, subjects were given a relativedirection test. The relative direction test involvedindicating the direction of hidden landmarks fromdifferent vantage points in the environment. Half ofthese vantage points were presented during thelearning phase, while the other half were novel.Results showed that subjects learned relativedirections between landmarks equally well when sceneswere presented in either a sequential or random order.Furthermore, viewing a configuration of landmarks ina desktop virtual environment from multipleperspectives produced a viewpoint dependentrepresentation in memory. Subjects had significantlygreater response times for new viewing perspectives,as compared to previously viewed scenes. Thisviewpoint dependent representation of the environmentpersisted despite learning under conditions ofspatio-temporal discontinuity and changes to anenvironmental frame of reference.     

View makes a difference: Presenting human figures from the back or front affects mental spatial transformations of children and adults

Previous research suggested that performance in spatial judgments involving rotated human figures is poorer if these figures are presented from the front than from the back. We further investigated this effect, controlling for visible facial information in front and back view by presenting figures' faces as profile. Children's and adults' judgments were still faster and less error prone if figures were presented from the back. Moreover, reaction times indicated that participants did not mentally rotate figures in front view. Children performed overall more poorly than adults, but there were also qualitative differences suggesting that children are more susceptible to embodiment effects than adults. This study underlines that embodiment may have differential effects in spatial transformation tasks, enhancing or impairing performance.     

Mental spatial transformations of objects and perspective

This study sought evidence for the independenceof two classes of mental spatialtransformation: object-based spatialtransformations and egocentric perspectivetransformations. Two tasks were designed toselectively elicit these two transformationsusing the same materials, participants, andtask parameters: one required same-differentjudgments about pairs of pictures, while theother required left-right judgments aboutsingle pictures. For pictures of human bodies,the two tasks showed strikingly differentpatterns of response time as a function ofstimulus orientation. Moreover, acrossindividuals, the two tasks had differentrelationships to psychometric tests of spatialability. The chronometric and individualdifference data converge withneuropsychological and neuroimaging data insuggesting that different mental spatialtransformations are performed by dissociableneural systems.     

Why do speakers mix perspectives?

Although considerations of discourse coherence and cognitive processing suggest that communicators should adopt consistent perspectives when describing spatial scenes, in many cases they switch perspectives. Ongoing research examining cognitive costs indicates that these are small and exacted in establishing a mental model of a scene but not in retrieving information from a well-known scene. A perspective entails a point of view, a referent object, and terms of reference. These may change within a perspective, exacting cognitive costs, so that the costs of switching perspective may not be greater than the costs of maintaining the same perspective. Another project investigating perspective choice for self and other demonstrates effects of salience of referent object and ease of terms of reference. Perspective is mixed not just in verbal communications but also in pictorial ones, suggesting that at times, switching perspective is more effective than maintaining a consistent one.     

Verb Semantics Affects the Interpretation of Spatial Prepositions

Abstract

Spatial prepositions, more specifically projective prepositions, such as in front of or behind can be interpreted in different ways. Their interpretation depends on the spatial perspective taken as the basis for determining the reference frame's orientation. In 3 series of placement experiments with German speakers, we examined whether the interpretation of projective prepositions in a motion context is affected by the verb used in a spatial instruction. Results suggest that verb semantics is a factor accounting for previously observed seemingly social-situational differences in the interpretation of projective prepositions. Specifically, the findings indicate that, relative to a car as reference object, the semantic aspect of motion interruption associated with some verbs leads to a higher proportion of deictic interpretations determined by the direction from which one is approaching the car. This verb effect on the interpretation of spatial prepositions can be explained by an activation of the temporal dimension through stop-implying verbs, which is integrated into the spatial situation model of the perceived dynamic scene making the deictic frame of reference more compatible. The experimental evidence also shows that verb semantics can account for previously unexplained cross-linguistic differences, and is related to patterns concerning the prepositional inventory of languages.     

Learning Spatial Localization: From Rat Studies to Computational Models of the Hippocampus

In his landmark article, Richard Morris (1981) introduced a set of rat experiments intended “to demonstrate that rats can rapidly learn to locate an object that they can never see, hear, or smell provided it remains in a fixed spatial location relative to distal room cues” (p. 239). These experimental studies have greatly impacted our understanding of rat spatial cognition. In this article, we address a spatial cognition model primarily based on hippocampus place cell computation where we extend the prior Barrera–Weitzenfeld model (2008) intended to allow navigation in mazes containing corridors. The current work extends beyond the limitations of corridors to enable navigation in open arenas where a rat may move in any direction at any time. The extended work reproduces Morris's rat experiments through virtual rats that search for a hidden platform using visual cues in a circular open maze analogous to the Morris water maze experiments. We show results with virtual rats comparing them to Morris's original studies with rats.     

The Influence of Landmarks and Pre-exposure to a Structural Map During the Process of Spatial Knowledge Acquisition: A Study with Children and Adults in a Virtual Environment

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effects of featural information (landmarks) and geometric information (pre-exposure to a structural map) and their possible interaction during the process of spatial knowledge acquisition of 8- and 11-year-old children and adults in a virtual environment. The study confirmed the well-known result of a developmental achievement in spatial cognition from childhood to adulthood. Although landmarks and the pre-exposure to a structural map did not affect the time to learn a specific route, they influenced the use of behavior in spatial learning and eased the acquisition of spatial knowledge measured by a route reversal and map-drawing tasks. Children and adults are able to integrate featural and geometric information in the spatial knowledge acquisition process in an environmental space, but their integration depends on the spatial processing stages that are investigated. Moreover, it was successfully demonstrated that the use of desktop virtual environments seems to be appropriate to investigate the development of spatial cognition.     

星载BX1750A芯片抗单粒子翻转性能评估

用软件包和FOM方法分别计算了BX1750A芯片在三种太阳同步轨道以及不同宇宙环境下的单粒子翻转率。根据器件及单片机系统在轨单粒子翻转率与“零翻转”可靠度的关系，量化地评估了该芯片及所属系统应用于不同飞行任务时的抗单粒子翻转(SEU)性能。分析结果表明，BX1750A芯片抗单粒子效应的性能较高，可作为低太阳同步轨道3年或5年寿命卫星关键计算机系统的选用芯片。同时为确保系统SEU零失效，有必要采取软件和其他加固措施。     

如何使用CFD来确定风洞实验模型的缩尺比例——风洞试验模型设计准则从感性到理性的飞跃

对上百年传统的风洞试验模型缩尺比例的确定方法,提出了疑问,并且从N-S方程出发,指出了这种“传统”方法不符合相似理论,具有很大的随意性和盲目性。因而按“传统”方法给出的模型尺寸所提供的风洞实验气动力数据是不准确的,不能满足当今世界现代战争精确打击的战术技术要求。因此,必须按文中提出的,满足N-S方程解的相似性要求去确定模型的尺寸,才是今后风洞实验模型设计的方向。从这一点出发,文中还提出了一些新的概念,并且扩展到如何应用CFD来作为风洞实验相似理论辅助研究的设想。     

从10世纪以前的中日物质文化交流看落后文明对先进文明的学习

中日两国是一衣带水、隔海相望的近邻，有着两千多年的交往历史。在政治、经济、文化等诸多领域，两国人民始终有着密切的联系，特别是中国传统文化对日本本土文化的形成和发展产生了重大影响。本文通过在日本发现的大量中国文物，结合文献资料，从宏观上回顾了10世纪以前的中日物质文化交流。在此基础上，选取中国与日本发现的唐代铜镜为主要依据，在微观上对中日物质文化交流的实态、意义以及日本民族对待先进外来文化积极继承和发扬的态度进行思考、研究。