Abstract
Theories of subjective distance cognition in different scientific fields seem to deal with incomparable subject matters. It is shown in this paper, however, that psychophysical descriptions of subjective distances as power functions of objective distances and the modelling of Qualitative Distances in artificial intelligence can be related to one another from a representation-theoretic perspective. Both claim that subjective distances represent an aspect of objective distances — the difference is which aspect, ratios or order. However, aspects of objective distances alone can neither incorporate the influence of environmental features or hierarchies on subjective distances, nor can they explain memory structures or processes involved in distance cognition. A processing model of knowledge about distances is described, which integrates these considerations. The model explains existing empirical data, and it generates further predictions. The model shows distance estimates as produced by two representations, in which subjective distances and other subjective spatial relations represent objective distances and other objective spatial relations.
The author's work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through a scholarship in the doctoral program in cognitive science (Graduiertenkolleg Kognitionswissenschaft) and through a project of the priority program on spatial cognition (Raumkognition) (AZ Fr806/8-1).
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Berendt, B. (1997). Modelling subjective distances. In: Brewka, G., Habel, C., Nebel, B. (eds) KI-97: Advances in Artificial Intelligence. KI 1997. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1303. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3540634932_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3540634932_15
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