Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking
- The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking
- Copyright page
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Functional Significance of Visuospatial Representations
- 2 Visuospatial Images
- 3 Disorders of Visuospatial WorkingMemory
- 4 Individual Differences in Spatial Abilities
- 5 Sex Differencesin Visuospatial Abilities
- 6 Development of Spatial Competence
- 7 Navigation
- 8 Mapping the Understanding of Understanding Maps
- 9 Spatial Situation Models
- 10 Design Applications of Visual Spatial Thinking
- 11 The Comprehension of Quantitative Information in Graphical Displays
- 12 Multimedia Learning: GuidingVisuospatial Thinking with Instructional Animation
- Author Index
- Subject Index
1 - Functional Significance of Visuospatial Representations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking
- The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking
- Copyright page
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Functional Significance of Visuospatial Representations
- 2 Visuospatial Images
- 3 Disorders of Visuospatial WorkingMemory
- 4 Individual Differences in Spatial Abilities
- 5 Sex Differencesin Visuospatial Abilities
- 6 Development of Spatial Competence
- 7 Navigation
- 8 Mapping the Understanding of Understanding Maps
- 9 Spatial Situation Models
- 10 Design Applications of Visual Spatial Thinking
- 11 The Comprehension of Quantitative Information in Graphical Displays
- 12 Multimedia Learning: GuidingVisuospatial Thinking with Instructional Animation
- Author Index
- Subject Index
Summary
Mental spaces are not unitary. Rather, people conceive of different spaces differently, depending on the functions they serve. Four such spaces are considered here. The space of the body subserves proprioception and action; it is divided by body parts, with perceptually salient and functionally significant parts more accessible than others. The space around the body subserves immediate perception and action; it is conceived of in three dimensions in terms of relations of objects to the six sides of the body: front/back, head/feet, left/right. The space of navigation subserves that; it is constructed in memory from multimodal pieces, typically as a plane. The reconstruction generates systematic errors. The space of external representations, of pictures, maps, charts, and diagrams, serves as cognitive aids to memory and information processing. To serve those ends, graphics schematize and may distort information.
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- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking , pp. 1 - 34Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
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