Embodying Spatial Maps

Control Mechanisms for Spatial Knowledge Processing in Cognitive / Intelligent Systems

Volume

Papers from the 2007 AAAI Spring Symposium

Contents

Humans do not learn spatial layouts by making detailed mental snapshots. In contrast, they organize and integrate the available information into dynamic cognitive structures. Indeed, there is evidence that sensory information undergoes considerable change on its way from the eye, ear, and other receptors to perceptual systems and memory. To account for a number of these changes, we present a theoretical framework based on the Theory of Event Coding (Hommel et al. 2001). We suggest that spatial maps consist of integrated event files or object-action complexes that include information about the features of objects of a layout and the actions these objects afford. We demonstrate how this framework explains available experimental effects and discuss further implications.