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Spatial Primitives from a Cognitive Perspective: Sensitivity to Changes in Various Geometric Properties

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Book cover Spatial Information Theory (COSIT 2013)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 8116))

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Abstract

This study addressed the issue of spatial concepts by examining the perception of changes in shape, orientation, size, and cyclic order caused by the transformations of deformation, rotation, scaling, and reflection. 49 participants viewed 36 geometric configurations to which different types and degrees of transformations were applied, and answered how much they thought the configurations were different from each other. Participants perceived deformed configurations as more dissimilar as the degree of deformation became larger. Participants’ perception of geometric properties, however, did not conform to the mathematical classification of transformations. They discriminated between deformed, rotated, scaled, and reflected configurations when the degree of deformation was small; but the perceived difference became smaller as the degree of deformation became larger. Furthermore, mental-rotation ability affected the sensitivity to geometric properties, with low-spatial people attending to changes in orientation caused by rotation and reflection. Implications for spatial learning and education are discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies & Center for Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Toru Ishikawa

Authors
  1. Toru Ishikawa
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Linguistics & English Language, Bangor University, College Road, LL57 2DG, Bangor, UK

    Thora Tenbrink

  2. School of Computing, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, LS2 9JT, Leeds, UK

    John Stell

  3. College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Harrison Building, North Park Road, EX4 4QF, Exeter, UK

    Antony Galton  & Zena Wood  & 

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Ishikawa, T. (2013). Spatial Primitives from a Cognitive Perspective: Sensitivity to Changes in Various Geometric Properties. In: Tenbrink, T., Stell, J., Galton, A., Wood, Z. (eds) Spatial Information Theory. COSIT 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8116. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01790-7_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01790-7_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-01789-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-01790-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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