Cognition in Spatial Dispersion Games

In common-interest spatial-dispersion games the agents common goal is to choose distinct locations.We experimentally investigate the role of cognition in such games and compare it with the role of cognition in spatial matching games. In our setup cognition matters because agents may be differentially aware of the dispersion opportunities that are created by the history of the game.We ask whether cognitive constraints limit the agents ability to achieve dispersion and, if there is dispersion, whether these constraints affect the mode by which agents achieve dispersion.Our main finding is that strategic interaction magnifies the role of cognitive constraints.Specifically, with cognitive constraints, pairs of agents fail to solve a dispersion problem that poses little or no problem for individual agents playing against themselves.When we remove the cognitive constraints in our design, pairs of agents solve the same problem just as well as individuals do.In addition, we find that when playing against themselves agents do not change the mode by which they solve the dispersion problem when our design removes the cognitive constraints.noncooperative games;laboratory group behavior

City rats: From rat behaviour to human spatial cognition in urban environments

The structure and shape of an urban environment influence our ability to find our way about in the city^1-2^. Indeed, urban designers who face the challenge of planning environments that facilitate wayfinding^3^, have a consequent need to understand the relations between the urban environment and spatial cognition^4^. Previous studies have suggested that certain qualities of city elements, such as a distinct contrast with the background (e.g. The Eiffel Tower in Paris), or a clear morphology (e.g. the grid layout of Manhattan's streets) affect spatial behaviour and cognition^1,5-7^. However, only a few empirical studies have examined the relations between the urban environment and spatial cognition. Here we suggest that testing rats in experimental environments that simulate certain facets of urban environment can provide an insight into human spatial behaviour in urban environments with a similar layout. Specifically, we simulated two city layouts: (1) a grid street layout such as that of Manhattan; and (2) an irregular street layout such as that of Jerusalem. We found that the rats that were tested in the grid layout covered more ground and visited more locations, compared with the restricted movement demonstrated by the rats tested in the irregular layout. This finding in rats is in accordance with previous findings that urban grids conduce to high movement flow throughout the city, compared to low movement flow in irregular urban layouts^8-9^. Previous studies revealed that the spatial behaviour of rats and humans is controlled by the same underlying mechanisms^10-11^. In the same vein, we show that rats demonstrate spatial movement patterns that recall those of humans in similar urban environments. Rat behaviour may thus offer an in-vivo means for testing and analyzing the spatial cognitive principles of specific urban designs and for inferring how humans may perceive a particular urban environment and orient in it

Both symbolic and embodied representations contribute to spatial language processing: Evidence from younger and older adults

Building on earlier neuropsychological work, we adopted a novel individual differences approach to examine the relationship between spatial language and a wide range of both verbal and nonverbal abilities. Three new measures were developed for the assessment of spatial language processing: spatial naming, spatial verbal memory, and verbal comprehension in spatial perspective taking. Results from a sample of young adults revealed significant correlations between performance on the spatial language tasks and performance on both the analogous (non-spatial) verbal measures as well as on the (non-verbal) visual-spatial measures. Visual-spatial abilities, however, were more predictive of spatial language processing than verbal abilities. Furthermore, results from a sample of older adults revealed impairments in visual-spatial tasks and on spatial verbal memory. The results support dual process accounts of meaning, and provide further evidence of the close connection between the language of space and non-linguistic visual-spatial cognition

Spatial metaphors of the ancient world: theory and practice

Group C-2 of the Excellence Cluster 264 Topoi Space and Metaphor in Language, Cognition, and Texts is dedicated to the study of spatial metaphors and their functions in texts of different genres, languages, and epochs. This outline of the work of group C-2 takes as its point of departure and theoretical framework a general linguistic typology of spatial metaphors. This outline is followed by a series of case studies ranging from wisdom texts and philosophical treatises to tragedy and from Ancient Egyptian to Shakespearean English. These examples are aimed at illustrating both the challenges and the possibilities of the study and interpretation of spatial metaphors in their respective contexts

Fine-Scale Spatial Organization of Face and Object Selectivity in the Temporal Lobe: Do Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Optical Imaging, and Electrophysiology Agree?

The spatial organization of the brain's object and face representations in the temporal lobe is critical for understanding high-level vision and cognition but is poorly understood. Recently, exciting progress has been made using advanced imaging and physiology methods in humans and nonhuman primates, and the combination of such methods may be particularly powerful. Studies applying these methods help us to understand how neuronal activity, optical imaging, and functional magnetic resonance imaging signals are related within the temporal lobe, and to uncover the fine-grained and large-scale spatial organization of object and face representations in the primate brain

Evidence for unusual spatial location coding in Williams syndrome: An explanation for the local bias in visuo-spatial construction tasks?

Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) display poor visuo-spatial cognition relative to verbal abilities. Furthermore, whilst perceptual abilities are delayed, visuo-spatial construction abilities are comparatively even weaker, and are characterised by a local bias. We investigated whether this differentiation in visuo-spatial abilities can be explained by a deficit in coding spatial location in WS. This can be measured by assessing participants? understanding of the spatial relations between objects within a visual scene. Coordinate and categorical spatial relations were investigated independently in four participant groups: 21 individuals with WS; 21 typically developing (TD) children matched for non-verbal ability; 20 typically developing controls of a lower non-verbal ability; and 21 adults. A third task measured understanding of visual colour relations. Results indicated first, that the comprehension of categorical and co-ordinate spatial relations is equally poor in WS. Second, that the comprehension of visual relations is also at an equivalent level to spatial relational understanding in this population. These results can explain the difference in performance on visuo-spatial perception and construction tasks in WS. In addition, both the WS and control groups displayed response biases in the spatial tasks. However, the direction of bias differed across the groups. This finding is explored in relation to current theories of spatial location coding

Restriction of task processing time affects cortical activity during processing of a cognitive task: an event-related slow cortical potential study

As is known from psychometrics, restriction of task processing time by the instruction to respond as quickly and accurately as possible leads to task-unspecific cognitive processing. Since this task processing mode is used in most functional neuroimaging studies of human cognition, this may evoke cortical activity that is functionally not essential for the particular task under investigation. Using topographic recordings of event-related slow cortical potentials, two experiments have been performed to investigate whether cortical activity during processing of a visuo-spatial imagery task is substantially influenced by the time provided to process the task. Furthermore, it was investigated whether this effect is additionally modulated by a subject’s task-specific ability. The instruction to respond as quickly and accurately as possible led to increased negative slow cortical potential amplitudes over parietal and frontal regions and significantly interacted with task-specific ability. While cortical activity recorded over parietal and frontal regions was different between subjects with low and high spatial ability when processing time was unrestricted, no such differences were found between ability groups when subjects were instructed to answer both quickly and accurately. These results suggest that restricting processing time has considerable effects on the amount and the pattern of brain activity during cognitive processing and should be taken into account more explicitly in the experimental design and interpretation of neuroimaging studies of cognition

Development of a head-mounted, eye-tracking system for dogs

Growing interest in canine cognition and visual perception has promoted research into the allocation of visual attention during free-viewing tasks in the dog. The techniques currently available to study this (i.e. preferential looking) have, however, lacked spatial accuracy, permitting only gross judgements of the location of the dog’s point of gaze and are limited to a laboratory setting. Here we describe a mobile, head-mounted, video-based, eye-tracking system and a procedure for achieving standardised calibration allowing an output with accuracy of 2-3º. The setup allows free movement of dogs; in addition the procedure does not involve extensive training skills, and is completely non-invasive. This apparatus has the potential to allow the study of gaze patterns in a variety of research applications and could enhance the study of areas such as canine vision, cognition and social interactions