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Capacity Limits in Diagrammatic Reasoning

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Theory and Application of Diagrams (Diagrams 2000)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 1889))

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Abstract

This paper examines capacity limits in mental animation of static diagrams of mechanical systems and interprets these limits within current theories of working memory. I review empirical studies of mental animation that examined (1) the relation of spatial ability to mental animation (2) the effects of working memory loads on mental animation, (3) use of external memory in mental animation and (4) strategies for task decomposition that enable complex mental animation problems to be accomplished within the limited capacity of working memory. The effects of capacity limits on mental animation are explored by implementing a simple production system model of mental animation in the 3CAPS production system architecture, limiting the working memory resources available to the model, and implementing strategies for managing scarce working memory resources. It is proposed that mental animation involves the visual-spatial and executive components of working memory and that individual differences in mental animation reflect the operation of these working memory components.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106

    Mary Hegarty

Authors
  1. Mary Hegarty
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, University of Hartford, Dana Hall 230, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, Connecticut, 06117, USA

    Michael Anderson

  2. School of Psychology ESRC Centre for Research in Development, Instruction and Training, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    Peter Cheng

  3. Computer Science Department, University of Hamburg, Vogt-Koelln-Str. 30, 22527, Hamburg, Germany

    Volker Haarslev

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© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Hegarty, M. (2000). Capacity Limits in Diagrammatic Reasoning. In: Anderson, M., Cheng, P., Haarslev, V. (eds) Theory and Application of Diagrams. Diagrams 2000. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 1889. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44590-0_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44590-0_19

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-67915-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-44590-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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