Spatial configuration, spatial cognition and spatial behaviour: The role of architectural intelligibility in shaping spatial experience

This thesis investigates the role of spatial configuration in shaping resident's experience of their neighbourhood. Studies to date have found that spatial configuration affects spatial behaviour and movement patterns (e.g., Hillier et al, 1993), however there has been little investigation of the cognitive processes that might underlie this relationship. Other research into cognition of the urban environment suggests that local spatial factors may play a role in cognitive processes (e.g., Hart & Moor, 1973), however these studies have not addressed global spatial configuration in quantitative terms. No studies to date have sought to integrate cognitive, behavioural and configurational factors within a single framework. Using Hillier's (1996) definition of intelligibility as the relationship between local and global configurational factors, this thesis investigates the relationship between resident's cognition, observed patterns of movement and the spatial configuration of an area. Two adjacent areas in Hampstead Garden Suburb in North London were investigated in detail. One area is relatively intelligible, the other less so. Structured interview surveys were carried out with local residents to elicit aspects of their cognition of the local area and detailed observations were made of movement patterns in the two neighbourhoods. Analysis of the spatial characteristics of the two areas using 'space syntax' methods provided a common basis for analyses of these data. The findings confirm that spatial configuration, spatial cognition and space use patterns are all related to one another. The main finding is that the degree of intelligibility of the area is the most significant intervening variable in relations between the three variables. The more intelligible area showed more powerful correlations between spatial configuration and patterns of movement, as well as giving rise to perceptions of greater legibility and increased neighbourhood size by local residents. Strong correlations were also identified between residents' cognitive maps and observed patterns of movement in the area. The correlations were again found to be stronger in the intelligible area than the unintelligible area. These findings suggest that spatial configuration may play an important role in determining people's daily spatial experience by increasing or reducing their sense of autonomy. By reducing the ability to predict either one's precise location within his/her global context, or the likely behaviour of others in space, unintelligible urban configurations may result in perceptions of a lesser sense of personal control over one's own actions in the environment. The thesis concludes that `architectural intelligibility' may be a basic aspect in achieving human spatial needs

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

The temporary nature of number-space interactions

It is commonly accepted that the mental representation and processing of numbers and of space are tightly linked. This is evident from studies that have shown relations between math ability and visuospatial skill. Also, math instruction and education rely strongly on visuospatial tools and strategies. The dominant explanation for these number—space interactions is that the mental representation of numbers takes the form of a mental number line with numbers positioned in ascending order according to our reading habits. A long-standing debate is whether the link between numbers and space can be considered as evidence for a spatial number representation in long-term semantic memory, or whether this spatial frame is a temporary representation that emerges in working memory (WM) during task execution. We summarise our recent work that suggests basic number processing tasks do not operate on a long-term spatial memory representation, but on a representation constructed in serial order WM, where the elements are spatially coded as a function of their ordinal position in the memorised sequence. Implications for a new theoretical framework linking serial order WM and basic number processing are discussed

Undergraduate Research Assistant Receives EURP | Engineering Education

Steven Wood, an undergraduate research assistant working with Dr. Wade Goodridge in Engineering Education has been awarded an EURP for this coming year to engage in research in spatial thinking. Steven will work with over a year of collected spatial ability data to discover the significant gains student achieve in it after completing a Statics course. Spatial ability includes the ability to mentally comprehend an object, diagram, model, etc. and be able to manipulate and visualize it in the mind. Numerous studies have found strong evidence that supports the correlation of high spatial ability to success in STEM coursework and in careers, especially in engineering careers. Other work has looked to refine the multiple constructs of spatial ability that are typically assessed on standard occupationally designed instruments. However, this works leads other spatial cognition research by looking into how an individual engineering course enhances existing spatial ability. Steven will be presenting his work at UCUR and NCUR in this upcoming year.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/engineering_news/1050/thumbnail.jp

Four applications of embodied cognition

This article presents the views of four sets of authors, each taking concepts of embodied cognition into problem spaces where the new paradigm can be applied. The first considers consequences of embodied cognition on the legal system. The second explores how embodied cognition can change how we interpret and interact with art and literature. The third examines how we move through archi- tectural spaces from an embodied cognition perspective. And the fourth addresses how music cogni- tion is influenced by the approach. Each contribution is brief. They are meant to suggest the potential reach of embodied cognition, increase the visibility of applications, and inspire potential avenues for research

Space syntax and spatial cognition: or why the axial line?

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Multisensory spatial mechanisms of the bodily self and social cognition : a commentary on Vittorio Gallese & Valentina Cuccio

This commentary aims to find the right description of the pre-reflective brain mechanisms underlying our phenomenal experience of being a subject bound to a physical body (bodily self) and basic cognitive, perceptual, and subjective aspects related to interaction with other individuals (social cognition). I will focus on the proposal by Gallese and Cuccio that embodied simulation, in terms of motor resonance, is the primary brain mechanism underlying the pre-reflective aspects of social cognition and the bodily self. I will argue that this proposal is too narrow to serve a unified theory of the neurobiological mechanisms of both target phenomena. I support this criticism with theoretical considerations and empirical evidence suggesting that multisensory spatial processing, which is distinct from but a pre-requisite of motor resonance, substantially contributes to the bodily self and social cognition. My commentary is structured in three sections. The first section addresses social cognition and compares embodied simulation to an alternative account, namely the attention schema theory. According to this theory we pre-reflectively empathize with others by predicting their current state of attention which involves predicting the spatial focus of attention. Thereby we derive a representational model of their state of mind. On this account, spatial coding of attention, rather than motor resonance, is the primary mechanism underlying social cognition. I take this as a theoretical alternative complementing motor resonance mechanisms. The second section focuses on the bodily self. Comparison of the brain networks of the bodily self and social cognition reveals strong overlap, suggesting that both phenomena depend on shared multisensory and sensorimotor mechanisms. I will review recent empirical data about altered states of the bodily self in terms of self-location and the first-person perspective. These spatial aspects of the bodily self are encoded in brain regions distinct from the brain network of embodied simulation. I argue that while motor resonance might contribute to body ownership and agency, it does not account for spatial aspects of the bodily self. Thus, embodied simulation appears to be a necessary but insufficiently “primary” brain mechanism of the bodily self and social cognition. The third section discusses the contributions of the vestibular system, i.e., the sensory system encoding head motion and gravity, to the bodily self and social cognition. Vestibular cortical processing seems relevant to both processes, because it directly encodes the world-centered direction of gravity and allows us to distinguish between motions of the own body and motions of other individuals and the external world. Furthermore, the vestibular cortical network largely overlaps with those neural networks relevant to the bodily self and social cognition. Thus, the vestibular system may play a crucial role in multisensory spatial coding relating the bodily self to other individuals in the external world