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Spatialcognitionisconcernedwiththewayshumans,animals,ormachinesthink about real or abstract space and also with the ways spatial structures can be used for reasoning. Thus, space is considered both, as an object of cognition and as ameans of cognition. Spatial cognition is an interdisciplinary research areainvolvingapproachesfromarti?cialintelligence,cognitivepsychology,ge- raphy, mathematics, biology, design, theoretical computer science, architecture, andphilosophy.Researchonspatialcognitionhasprogressedrapidlyduringthe past few years. The disciplines contributing to the ?eld have moved closer - getherandbegintospeakacommonlanguage.Theyhavefoundwaysofmerging theresearchresultsobtainedthroughdi?erentapproaches.Thisallowsfordev- oping more sophisticated hybrid approaches that overcome intrinsic limitations of the individual disciplines. Research on spatial cognition has drawn increased attention in recent years foratleastthreedi?erentreasons:(1)basicresearchdimension:thereisagr- ing awareness of the importance of spatial cognitive abilities in biological s- tems, speci?cally with respect to perception and action, to the organization of memory, and to understanding and producing natural language; (2) compu- tionaldimension:spatialrepresentationsandspatialinferencemayprovidesu- ablelimitationsto enhancethe computationale?ciencyforalargeandrelevant class of problems; (3) application dimension: a good understanding of spatial processes is essential for a wide variety of challenging application areas incl- ing Geographic Information Systems (GIS), pedestrian and vehicle navigation aids,autonomousrobots,smartgraphics,medicalsurgery,informationretrieval, virtual reality, Internet navigation, and human-computer interfaces. This is the second volume published in the framework of the Spatial Cog- tion Priority Program. It augments the results presented in Freksa et al. 1998.
List of contents
Maps and Diagrams.- Cognitive Zoom: From Object to Path and Back Again.- Monitoring Change: Characteristics of Dynamic Geo-spatial Phenomena for Visual Exploration.- The Use of Maps, Images and "Gestures" for Navigation.- Schematizing Maps: Simplification of Geographic Shape by Discrete Curve Evolution.- Schematic Maps as Wayfinding Aids.- Some Ways that Maps and Diagrams Communicate.- Spatial Communication with Maps: Defining the Correctness of Maps Using a Multi-Agent Simulation.- Schematic Maps for Robot Navigation.- Motion and Spatial Reference.- From Motion Observation to Qualitative Motion Representation.- Lexical Specifications of Paths.- Visual Processing and Representation of Spatio-temporal Patterns.- Orienting and Reorienting in Egocentric Mental Models.- Investigating Spatial Reference Systems through Distortions in Visual Memory.- Spatial Relations and Spatial Inference.- Towards Cognitive Adequacy of Topological Spatial Relations.- Interactive Layout Generation with a Diagrammatic Constraint Language.- Inference and Visualization of Spatial Relations.- A Topological Calculus for Cartographic Entities.- The Influence of Linear Shapes on Solving Interval-Based Configuration Problems.- Navigation in Real and Virtual Spaces.- Transfer of Spatial Knowledge from Virtual to Real Environments.- Coarse Qualitative Descriptions in Robot Navigation.- Oblique Angled Intersections and Barriers: Navigating through a Virtual Maze.- Modelling Navigational Knowledge by Route Graphs.- Using Realistic Virtual Environments in the Study of Spatial Encoding.- Navigating Overlapping Virtual Worlds: Arriving in One Place and Finding that You're Somewhere Else.- Spatial Memory.- Influences of Context on Memory for Routes.- Preparing a Cup of Tea and Writing a Letter: DoScript-Based Actions Influence the Representation of a Real Environment?.- Action Related Determinants of Spatial Coding in Perception and Memory.- Investigation of Age and Sex Effects in Spatial Cognitions as Assessed in a Locomotor Maze and in a 2-D Computer Maze.
