Reinhold Rauh

A Cognitive Assessment of Topological Spatial Relations: Results from an Empirical Investigation

Whether or not a formal approach to spatial relations is a cognitively adequate (the term will be explicated in this paper) model of human spatial knowledge is more often based on the intuition of the researchers than on empirical data In contrast, the research reported here is concerned with an empirical assessment of one of the three general classes of spatial relations, namely topological knowledge. In the reported empirical investigation, subjects had to group numerous spatial configurations consisting of two circles with respect to their similarity. As is well known, such tasks are solved on the basis of underlying spatial concepts. The results were compared with the RCC-theory and Egenhofers approach to topological relations and support the assumption that both theories are cognitively adequate in a number of important aspects.

Preferred and Alternative Mental Models in Spatial Reasoning

The mental model theory postulates that spatial reasoning relies on the construction, inspection, and the variation of mental models. Experiment 1 shows that in reasoning problems with multiple solutions, reasoners construct only a single model that is preferred over others. Experiment 2 shows that inferences conforming to these preferred mental models (PMM) are easier than inferences that are valid for alternatives. Experiments 3 and 4 support the idea that model variation consists of a model revision process. The process usually starts with the PMM and then constructs alternative models by local transformations. Models which are difficult to reach are more likely to be neglected than models which are only minor revisions of the PMM.

Weight gain associated with clozapine, olanzapine and risperidone in children and adolescents

Summary.The study was aimed at the evaluation of weight gain associated with atypical antipsychotics and its clinical risk factors in children and adolescents. Weight and body mass index (BMI) of initially hospitalised patients treated with clozapine (n = 15), olanzapine (n = 15), and risperidone (n = 15) were prospectively monitored on a weekly basis for the first 6 weeks. Different clinical risk factors were tested for their association with weight gain in the three groups. All three groups experienced significant weight gain between baseline and endpoint (p < 0.0001). For all weight measures, planned comparisons were all significant between olanzapine vs. clozapine and risperidone, respectively. Average weight gain was significantly higher for the olanzapine group (mean = 4.6 kg, SD = 1.9) than for the risperidone (mean = 2.8 kg, SD = 1.3) and clozapine (mean = 2.5 kg, SD = 2.9) groups. Olanzapine and risperidone, but not clozapine, caused a disproportionately higher weight gain in children and adolescents in comparison to adults.

Towards Cognitive Adequacy of Topological Spatial Relations

Qualitative spatial reasoning is often considered to be akin to human reasoning. This, however, is mostly based on the intuition of researchers rather than on empirical data. In this paper we continue our effort in empirically studying the cognitive adequacy of systems of topological relations. As compared to our previous empirical investigation [7], we partially lifted constraints on the shape of regions in configurations that we presented subjects in a grouping task.With a high level of agreement, subjects distinguished between different possibilities of how spatial regions can touch each other. Based on the results of our investigation, we propose to develop a new system of topological relations on a finer level of granularity than previously considered.

Impaired induction of long‐term potentiation‐like plasticity in patients with high‐functioning autism and Asperger syndrome

Aim  We aimed to investigate the induction of long‐term potentiation (LTP)‐like plasticity by paired associative stimulation (PAS) in patients with high‐functioning autism and Asperger syndrome (HFA/AS).

On the Temporal Characteristics of Performance Variability in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Increased intra-subject variability of reaction times (ISV-RT) is one of the most consistent findings in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although the nature of this phenomenon is still unclear, it has been hypothesised to reflect interference from the Default Mode Network (DMN). So far, ISV-RT has been operationally defined either as a frequency spectrum of the underlying RT time series, or as a measure of dispersion of the RT scores distribution. Here, we use a novel RT analysis framework to link these hitherto unconnected facets of ISV-RT by determining the sensitivity of different measures of RT dispersion to the frequency content of the underlying RT time series. N=27 patients with ADHD and N=26 healthy controls performed several visual N-back tasks. Different measures of RT dispersion were repeatedly modelled after individual frequency bands of the underlying RT time series had been either extracted or suppressed using frequency-domain filtering. We found that the intra-subject standard deviation of RT preserves the “1/f noise” characteristic typical of human RT data. Furthermore and most importantly, we found that the ex-Gaussian parameter τ is rather exclusively sensitive to frequencies below 0.025 Hz in the underlying RT time series and that the particularly slow RTs, which nourish τ, occur regularly as part of an quasi-periodic, ultra-slow RT fluctuation. Overall, our results are compatible with the idea that ISV-RT is modulated by an endogenous, slowly fluctuating process that may reflect DMN interference.

The psychological validity of qualitative spatial reasoning in one dimension

One of the central questions of spatial reasoning research is whether the underlying processes are inherently visual, spatial, or logical. We applied the dual task interference paradigm to spatial reasoning problems in one dimension, using Allens interval calculus, in order to make progress towards resolving this argument. Our results indicate that spatial reasoning with interval relations is largely based on the construction and inspection of qualitative spatial representations, or mental models, while no evidence for logical proofs of derivations or the involvement of visual representations and processes was found.

Cognitive correlates of anti-saccade task performance

The anti-saccade task (AST) is widely used in experimental, clinical, and neuroscience research as a pronounced test of executive functions. AST research includes to some extent also the investigation into its cognitive correlates. In the present study, we have examined cognitive correlates of the AST in the short-term/working memory, executive functions, and intelligence domains in healthy adults. We have obtained the following results. In line with previous research, the global percentage of direction errors PDE comprised of two only negligibly correlated components, direction errors with express or regular latencies. Substantial correlations with the other cognitive measures were obtained only for regular direction errors and, less so, for the global PDE. Results add to the evidence that distinguishes express and regular direction errors and underline that the complex requirements of the AST are reflected in a comparatively rich set of non-redundant parameters.

Praferierte mentale Modelle beim raumlich-relationalen Schließen: Empirie und kognitive Modellierung

The theory of mental models is the most prominent approach for explaining the underlying cognitive processes in spatial relational inference. Of the three phases of model construction, model inspection, and model variation, this article focuses mainly on the first one. The phase of model construction in spatial relational inference tasks based on the interval relations of Allen (1983) is investigated in two experiments. The first experiment corroborated the hypothesis of the existence of generally preferred mental models. The second experiment showed evidence for the causal influence of preferred mental models in verification tasks of threeterm series problems. Based on these results, the issue concerning the kind of representation of spatial information in mental models is tackled. Cognitive modeling based on insertion operations for beginning and endpoints of intervals by means of a spatial focus, i. e., using only ordinal information, corresponds clearly to the empirical preferences. Finally, we discuss the results with respect to the prediction of inferences in other inference tasks and problems concerning the processes in the phases of model inspection and model variation.SummaryThe theory of mental models is the most prominent approach for explaining the underlying cognitive processes in spatial relational inference. Of the three phases of model construction, model inspection, and model variation, this article focuses mainly on the first one. The phase of model construction in spatial relational inference tasks based on the interval relations of Allen (1983) is investigated in two experiments. The first experiment corroborated the hypothesis of the existence of generally preferred mental models. The second experiment showed evidence for the causal influence of preferred mental models in verification tasks of three-term series problems. Based on these results, the issue concerning the kind of representation of spatial information in mental models is tackled. Cognitive modeling based on insertion operations for beginning and end-points of intervals by means of a spatial focus, i. e., using only ordinal information, corresponds clearly to the empirical preferences. Finally, we discuss the results with respect to the prediction of inferences in other inference tasks and problems concerning the processes in the phases of model inspection and model variation.ZusammenfassungDie Theorie mentaler Modelle ist der derzeit wichtigste Ansatz zur Erklärung der kognitiven Prozesse beim räumlichrelationalen Schließen. Von den in der Theorie unterschiedenen Phasen Modellkonstruktion, -inspektion und -variation beschäftigt sich die vorliegende Arbeit v. a. mit der Phase der Modell-konstruktion, die anhand der Intervallrelationen von Allen (1983) in 2 Experimenten untersucht wurde. Im 1. Experiment ließ sich die Existenz allgemeiner präferierter mentaler Modelle empirisch belegen. Im 2. Experiment konnte deren kausale Wirksamkeit im Rahmen von Verifikationsaufgaben bei Three-term-series-Problemen nachgewiesen werden. Anschließend wird der Frage nach der Art der im mentalen Modell repräsentierten räumlichen Information nachgegangen. Eine kognitive Modellierung, die lediglich auf Einfügeoperationen von Anfangs- und Endpunkten von Intervallen mittels eines räumlichen Fokus basiert, also nur ordinale Information berücksichtigt, weist eine hohe Übereinstimmung mit den empirisch ermittelten Präferenzen auf. Eine Diskussion der bisher gewonnenen Erkenntnisse für die Vorhersage der Performanz in anderen Inferenzaufgaben und Fragestellungen im Zusammenhang mit den beteiligten Prozessen in den Phasen Modellinspektion und Modellvariation bildet den Abschluß.

Probability Distributions of Minkowski Distances between Discrete Random Variables

Minkowski distances are frequently used to indicate the similarity of two vectors in a n-dimensional space. This paper is about the probability distributions of Minkowski distances (e.g., City-block distances and Euclidean distances) between vectors in spaces spanned by n orthogonal, discrete valued axes. Formulas to compute the distributions of Minkowski distances are developed, critical values for tests of significance are tabled, and a normal approximation is examined. With the given information about the distributions of Minkowski distances a proper interpretation of empirical distance values should be facilitated.