Constanze Vorwerg

Typicality Effects in the Categorization of Spatial Relations

The chapter provides an overview of linguistic, neuropsychological and experimental psychological approaches and findings that support the idea that spatial relation categories are analog, overlapping, internally structured categories based on prototype comparison and with fuzzy boundaries. The main focus is on viewpoint dependent relations (direction relations) in visuospatial cognition. The notion of a frame of reference in spatial cognition is related to the more general concept of a frame of reference in categorization. Categorization constitutes the bridge between spatial vision and spatial language. For visual space, a spatial framework is proposed that is based on perceptually salient directions which act as standard values in relation to which object relations can be judged.

Use of reference directions in spatial encoding

Evidence is presented for the use of reference directions in verbal encoding and memory encoding. It is argued that reference directions (in linguistic spatial categorization as well as in memory encoding) are based on perceptually salient and distinguished orientations. A newly found spatial tilt effect for the sagittal in 3D visual space, that is reflected in different kinds of language processing, confirms a perceptual foundation of spatial language. It is proposed that direction is a qualitative attribute dimension, whose prototype values are not mean values or other characteristics of an empirical distribution but instead perceptually salient cognitive reference values. An account for angular bias effects in reporting location from memory is put forward and experimental results on the angular bias with and without physically present lines are presented.

Kognitive Bezugspunkte bei der Kategorisierung von Richtungsrelationen

Die perzeptive Identifizierung wie auch die sprachliche Beschreibung des Ortes eines Gegenstandes ist nicht moglich, ohne ein Bezugssystem zugrunde zu legen, relativ zu dem der jeweilige Ort bestimmt werden kann. Exemplifiziert werden kann dies an der Frage des siebenjahrigen Alexander, ob es moglich sei, das etwas zugleich am selben Ort und an einem anderen Ort sein konne. Er hatte entdeckt, das ein Ball, unter dem eine glatte Unterlage weggezogen wird, in Gegenrichtung rollt, und damit bezuglich der Unterlage den Ort wechselt, bezuglich des Fusbodens und des Teppichs aber den Ort beibehalt. In diesem Beispiel dient entweder die bewegte Unterlage oder der Teppich/der Fusboden als Bezugssystem. Weitere Beispiele waren ein Boot, das gegen die Stromung ans andere Ufer gerudert wird; der „Untergang“ der Sonne; der Mond, der scheinbar durch die Wolken zieht; oder auch das Auto, das langsam an unserem vorbeifahrt (oder rollen wir zuruck?). In jedem Falle braucht man einen Vergleichsmasstab — ein Bezugssystem -, um entscheiden zu konnen, ob etwas am gleichen Ort geblieben ist oder den Ort gewechselt hat und mit welcher Geschwindigkeit.

Response actions influence the categorization of directions in auditory space.

Spatial region concepts such as “front,” “back,” “left,” and “right” reflect our typical interaction with space, and the corresponding surrounding regions have different statuses in memory. We examined the representation of spatial directions in the auditory space, specifically in how far natural response actions, such as orientation movements toward a sound source, would affect the categorization of egocentric auditory space. While standing in the middle of a circle with 16 loudspeakers, participants were presented acoustic stimuli coming from the loudspeakers in randomized order, and verbally described their directions by using the concept labels “front,” “back,” “left,” “right,” “front-right,” “front-left,” “back-right,” and “back-left.” Response actions varied in three blocked conditions: (1) facing front, (2) turning the head and upper body to face the stimulus, and (3) turning the head and upper body plus pointing with the hand and outstretched arm toward the stimulus. In addition to a protocol of the verbal utterances, motion capture and video recording generated a detailed corpus for subsequent analysis of the participants’ behavior. Chi-square tests revealed an effect of response condition for directions within the left and right sides. We conclude that movement-based response actions influence the representation of auditory space, especially within the sides’ regions. Moreover, the representation of auditory space favors the front and the back regions in terms of resolution, which is possibly related to the physiological characteristics of the human auditory system, as well as to the ecological requirements of action control in the different regions.

Communicative Competence: Linguistic Aspects

Abstract The notion of communicative competence refers to an individuals capability to communicate successfully in terms of both effectiveness (goal achievement) and appropriateness (acceptability in relation to context). The concept is related to debates about the nature of language and was developed by Hymes as a counter concept to Chomskys proposal of linguistic competence. In contrast to this theoretical position, the concept of communicative competence sees language primarily as a means of communication, intertwined with other communicative media, coupled with and based upon other cognitive and social abilities, related to performance, and comprising all aspects of language including illocutionary and sociolinguistic knowledge, in contrast to being confined to grammar (in terms of syntactic, phonological, and semantic rules). The notion has also been developed within second-language teaching and interpersonal communication research. Depending on the specific focus of research, several constitutive components have been identified. It is a gradual concept, with communicative competence underlying performance and being built up with practice and experience. At the same time it may, depending on the communicative purpose, also be a function of more basic traits, states, and abilities (such as social relaxation, mind-reading abilities, and relevant kinds of knowledge). There is a vast amount of research on different aspects of communicative competence, including its implications for personal life; its components and measurement depending on setting and specific communicative function; the development of communicative competence, methods of improvement, and the processes involved in competent communicative behaviors.

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 frames 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.