A procedure for the incremental construction of a knowledge space

Knowledge spaces are structures for the efficient assessment of the knowledge state of a student in a given field of knowledge. Existing procedures for constructing a knowledge space by querying an expert assume that the domain of questions is known in advance, and that it is fixed during the whole query process. The outcome of these procedures is a knowledge space on the questions in that domain. If the original domain is extended with new questions, a new knowledge space on the extended domain can be produced by expert query. Since in this case a knowledge space for the original domain already exists, the available information can be used to extend the existing space in an efficient way, thus avoiding to apply expert query from scratch. Existing procedures do not provide an explicit way to use such information. Although these procedures can be adapted to this purpose, in this paper a new query algorithm that is specifically tailored for the problem above mentioned is presented.     

Near, yet so far: the effect of pictorial cues on spatial attention

Distinct cognitive and neural mechanisms underlie perception and action in near (within-reach) and far (outside-reach) space. Objects in far space can be brought into the brain's near-space through tool-use. We determined whether a near object can be pushed into far space by changing the pictorial context in which it occurs. Participants (n = 372) made relative length judgements for lines presented in near space, but superimposed over photographs of near and far objects. The left segment of the line was overestimated in the baseline and near-context conditions whereas the right was overestimated in the far-context. The change from leftward to rightward overestimation is the same when lines are physically shifted from near to far space. Because participants did not have to do anything in relation to the photograph, the results suggest that simply viewing images with a near/far context can cause a shift of attention along the distal/proximal axis, which may reflect differential activation of the ventral/dorsal visual streams.     

Potential space and the Rorschach: an application of object relations theory

This article examines the concept of potential space, developed by Winnicott (1971), and its relevance for Rorschach assessment. I propose that the response process can be viewed as occurring in the potential space between reality and fantasy and that various forms of psychopathology can be conceptualized as forms of the collapse of potential space. I suggest that this model can be of utility in interpreting the Rorschach protocols of a variety of difficult-to-diagnose patients. Examples from the Rorschach of a patient diagnosed with a dissociative disorder are presented to illustrate these points.     

Hipparchia the Cynic: Feminist Rhetoric and the Ethics of Embodiment

Hipparchia's use of exile as an ethical and rhetorical space from which to critique convention is the point of departure for an examination of the ethics of using exile as a rhetorically effective position for feminist theorizing. To address the ethical problems involved in using exile as a rhetorical space, I argue for a reading of exile as both a rhetorical and embodied space that can maintain an ethical anchor for feminist rhetorical and political practice.     

Movement,Stagnation, and Renewal of Movement in the Therapeutic Session

This article examines the term potential space in the therapeutic session and the pathological situations in which this space collapses. The article suggests that such failures occur in the weaving of transference and countertransference between patient and therapist. The potential to free and repair this space can be found in emotional thinking that occurs between the therapist and the patient. When the object-therapist can play or dream, the infant-patient can do so too. Thus, a new shared experience may be created in the therapeutic session and in the patient's mind. This article reviews the different types of collapse of the potential space, as suggested by Ogden, and offers a new additional type.     

On the Reality of Illusory Conjunctions

The reality of illusory conjunctions in perception has been sometimes questioned, arguing that they can be explained by other mechanisms. Most relevant experiments are based on migrations along the space dimension. But the low rate of illusory conjunctions along space can easily hide them among other types of errors. As migrations over time are a more frequent phenomenon, illusory conjunctions can be disentangled from other errors. We report an experiment in which series of colored letters were presented in several spatial locations, allowing for migrations over both space and time. The distribution of frequencies were fit by several multinomial tree models based on alternative hypothesis about illusory conjunctions and the potential sources of free-floating features. The best-fit model acknowledges that most illusory conjunctions are migrations in the time domain. Migrations in space are probably present, but the rate is very low. Other conjunction errors, as those produced by guessing or miscategorizations of the to-be-reported feature, are also present in the experiment. The main conclusion is that illusory conjunctions do exist.     

Exploring the space between words and meaning: Understanding the relational sensibility of surf spaces

This paper explores the potential of the written word to evoke emotional engagement with place. Through focussing on the relational sensibilities created through the act of surfing, the paper seeks to explore how these emotions are articulated by surfers in order to share their feelings with others. In doing so it draws attention to the ‘intersubjective space’ (after Thrift, 1996) between writer and reader and its potential to overcome the paradox of representation. In this space the written word has the potential to combine with readers' own experiences, however indirect or tangential, to create a currency of communicated lived experience. In this space, knowledge of surfing is co-created by writer and reader (or by surfer and non-surfer) and becomes freighted with empathic resonance. In order to explore whether the potential of this space can be realised, the paper presents examples of surf writing which seek to communicate the relational sensibility of surfing and asks the reader: can ‘only a surfer know the feeling’?     

The explosion of the present and the encapsulation of time: Transference phenomena in the analysis of a psychotic patient

The paper deals with some basic problems concerning the experience of time and space in the psychoanalytic treatment of psychotic patients. Whereas borderline patients tend to distort the experience of time and space under emotional pressure, the concepts of time and space seem to dissolve in acute psychotic states of mind. Sometimes this manifests itself in an explosion of the present, where the past is ubiquitous and the future is perceived as the end of all times. The case of a 48 year‐old patient with the external diagnosis of ‘paranoid–hallucinatory schizophrenia’ is presented to illustrate that the main task is to recreate a structure to contain the experience of space and time. Such a development may occur if primitive psychotic anxieties can be taken up and metabolized. A near‐psychotic decompensation before the first break and the development of a transference psychosis in the second year of the analysis are depicted in detail. Subsequently some developments became visible which helped the patient to better tolerate catastrophic fears of loss. This included the formation of a structure which the patient called ‘hibernation’ enabling her to psychically survive without falling apart. By retreating into her ‘time capsule’ she managed to overcome breaks and to delay her fears of fragmentation until they could be taken up and worked through in the transference. The creation of a structure like the patient's ‘time capsule’ is considered to be an attempt to construct the experience of time and space. It prevented a collapse of her internal space thereby enabling further steps towards thinking and symbolization. In conclusion, some theoretical and clinical aspects are discussed including the role of the countertransference.     

Exploring the space of cognitive architectures

Production systems have been proposed as a candidate for the basic architecture of the human information processor. We consider a number of dimensions along which production systems can vary, and we discuss PRISM, a production system formalism designed to aid cognitive modelers in their exploration of the space of architectures. Examples of PRISM settings are presented in the context of particular models. Finally, some heuristics are suggested for efficiently searching the space of possible architectures.     

One-dimensional and multi-dimensional studies of the exocentric distance estimates in frontoparallel plane, virtual space, and outdoor open field

The aim of this study is twofold: on the one hand, to determine how visual space, as assessed by exocentric distance estimates, is related to physical space. On the other hand, to determine the structure of visual space as assessed by exocentric distance estimates. Visual space was measured in three environments: (a) points located in a 2-D frontoparallel plane, covering a range of distances of 20 cm; (b) stakes placed in a 3-D virtual space (range = 330 mm); and (c) stakes in a 3-D outdoors open field (range = 45 m). Observers made matching judgments of distances between all possible pairs of stimuli, obtained from 16 stimuli (in a regular squared 4 x 4 matrix). Two parameters from Stevens' power law informed us about the distortion of visual space: its exponent and its coefficient of determination (R2). The results showed a ranking of the magnitude of the distortions found in each experimental environment, and also provided information about the efficacy of available visual cues of spatial layout. Furthermore, our data are in agreement with previous findings showing systematic perceptual errors, such as the further the stimuli, the larger the distortion of the area subtended by perceived distances between stimuli. Additionally, we measured the magnitude of distortion of visual space relative to physical space by a parameter of multidimensional scaling analyses, the RMSE. From these results, the magnitude of such distortions can be ranked, and the utility or efficacy of the available visual cues informing about the space layout can also be inferred.     

The spatial intersection of minds

Spatial formats of information are ubiquitous in the cognitive and neural sciences. There are neural uses of space in the topographic maps found throughout cortex. There are metaphorical uses of space in cognitive linguistics, physical uses of space in ecological psychology, and mathematical uses of space in dynamical systems theory. These varied informational uses of space each provide a single contiguous medium through which cognitive processes can be shared across subsystems. As we further develop our understanding of how the human mind processes information in real time, the continuous sharing and cascading of information patterns between brain areas can be extended to a sharing and cascading of information between multiple brains and bodies to produce coordinated behavior. Essentially, the way you and the people around you negotiate your shared space affects the way you think, because space is a fundamental part of how you think. It is via space that the mental processes of one mind can form an intersection with the mental processes of another mind.     

A Pragma-Dialectical Analysis of the Inquisition

Disagreement space consists of all the commitments and understandings required for an utterance to take on its discourse function. These are virtual standpoints that can be called out for explicit argumentation. This paper shows how the Inquisition systematically controlled disagreement space, preventing some apparently important standpoints from ever being argued about, and requiring attention to others that may not have initially seemed relevant. This control of disagreement space constituted violation of the rules for critical discussion. The essay suggests that the idea of disagreement space be slightly enlarged, to show the distinctions among virtual, possible, and actual disagreement spaces. The Inquisition's extra-argumentative power is what permitted its specification of the possible disagreement space. The analysis suggests that pragma-dialectics may have application in the criticism and analysis of social institutions.     

Representation and constraints: the inverse problem and the structure of visual space

Visual space can be distinguished from physical space. The first is found in visual experience, while the second is defined independently of perception. Theorists have wondered about the relation between the two. Some investigators have concluded that visual space is non-Euclidean, and that it does not have a single metric structure. Here it is argued (1) that visual space exhibits contraction in all three dimensions with increasing distance from the observer, (2) that experienced features of this contraction (including the apparent convergence of lines in visual experience that are produced from physically parallel stimuli in ordinary viewing conditions) are not the same as would be the experience of a perspective projection onto a frontoparallel plane, and (3) that such contraction is consistent with size constancy. These properties of visual space are different from those that would be predicted if spatial perception resulted from the successful solution of the inverse problem. They are consistent with the notion that optical constraints have been internalized. More generally, they are also consistent with the notion that visual spatial structures bear a resemblance relation to physical spatial structures. This notion supports a type of representational relation that is distinct from mere causal correspondence. The reticence of some philosophers and psychologists to discuss the structure of phenomenal space is diagnosed in terms of the simple materialism and the functionalism of the 1970s and 1980s.     

The perception of space and form recognition in a simulated environment: the case of minimalist sensory-substitution devices

Whenever we explore a simulated environment, the sensorimotor interactions that underlie our perception of space may be modified. We investigated the conditions under which it is possible to acquire the mastery of new sensorimotor laws and thereby to infer new perceptual spaces. A computer interface, based on the principles of minimalist sensory-substitution devices, was designed to enable different possible links between a user's actions (manipulation of a mouse and/or keys of a keyboard) and the resulting pattern of sensory stimulation (visual or auditory) to be established. The interface generated an all-or-none stimulus whose activation varied as a function of the participant's exploration of a hidden form. In this study we addressed the following questions: What are the conditions necessary for participants to understand their actions as constituting a displacement in a simulated space? What are the conditions required for participants to conceive of sensations as originating from the encounter with an object situated in this space? Finally, what are the conditions required for participants to recognise forms within this space? The results of the two experiments reported here show that, under certain conditions, participants can interpret the new sensorimotor laws as movements in a new perceptual space and can recognise simple geometric forms, and that this occurs no matter whether the sensory stimulation is presented in the visual or auditory modality.     

The Tactual Ground,Immersion, and the “Space Between”

I ask whether figure‐ground structure can be realized in touch, and, if so, how. Drawing on the taxonomy of touch sketched in Katz's 1925 The World of Touch, I argue that the form of touch that is relevant to such consideration is a species of immersed touch. I consider whether we can feel the space we are immersed in and, more specifically, the empty space against which the surfaces of objects, as I shall urge, “stand out.” Harnessing M. G. F. Martin's account of bodily awareness and touch, I defend a positive thesis, pace Graham Nerlich on whose The Shape of Space (1994) I otherwise rely, both to defend the supposition that empty space can in principle be felt and to argue that touching empty space is not a mere species of absence perception. Along the way, I defuse a causal worry that might be thought to arise in the case of touching empty space.     

Taxonomising the senses

I argue that we should reject the sparse view that there are or could be only a small number of rather distinct senses. When one appreciates this then one can see that there is no need to choose between the standard criteria that have been proposed as ways of individuating the senses—representation, phenomenal character, proximal stimulus and sense organ—or any other criteria that one may deem important. Rather, one can use these criteria in conjunction to form a fine-grained taxonomy of the senses. We can think of these criteria as defining a multidimensional space within which we can locate each of the senses that we are familiar with and which also defines the space of possible senses there could be.     

Slope estimation and viewing distance of the observer

The overestimation of geographical slant is one of the most sizable visual illusions. However, in some cases estimates of close-by slopes within the range of the observer’s personal space have been found to be rather accurate. We propose that the seemingly diverse findings can be reconciled when taking the viewing distance of the observer into account. The latter involves the distance of the observer from the slope (personal space, action space, and vista space) and also the eye-point relative to the slope. We separated these factors and compared outdoor judgments to those collected with a three-dimensional (3D) model of natural terrain, which was within arm’s reach of the observer. Slope was overestimated in the outdoors at viewing distances between 2 m and 138 m. The 3D model reproduced the errors in monocular viewing; however, performance was accurate with stereoscopic viewing. We conclude that accurate slant perception breaks down as soon as the situation exits personal space, be it physically or be it by closing one eye.     

Spatial categories and the estimation of location

Four experiments are reported in which people organize a space hierarchically when they estimate particular locations in that space. Earlier work showed that people subdivide circles into quadrants bounded at the vertical and horizontal axes, biasing their estimates towards prototypical diagonal locations within those spatial categories (Psychological Review 98 (1991) 352). In this work Huttenlocher, Hedges, and Duncan showed that the use of such spatial categories can increase the accuracy of estimation of inexactly represented locations. The stimulus locations we examined were uniformly distributed across the circle. In the present study we explore whether variation in the distribution of locations affects how the circle is categorized. Other things being equal, categories that capture high density regions in a stimulus space should contribute most to accuracy of estimation. However, precision of boundaries is also important to accuracy; with imprecise boundaries stimuli may be misclassified, leading to large errors in estimation. We found that people use the same spatial categories regardless of the distribution of the locations. We argue that this spatial organization nevertheless can maximize the accuracy of estimates because vertical and horizontal category boundaries are the most exact, minimizing misclassification of stimuli.     

Perceptual space in the dark affected by the intrinsic bias of the visual system

Correct judgment of egocentric/absolute distance in the intermediate distance range requires both the angular declination below the horizon and ground-surface information being represented accurately. This requirement can be met in the light environment but not in the dark, where the ground surface is invisible and hence cannot be represented accurately. We previously showed that a target in the dark is judged at the intersection of the projection line from the eye to the target that defines the angular declination below the horizon and an implicit surface. The implicit surface can be approximated as a slant surface with its far end slanted toward the frontoparallel plane. We hypothesize that the implicit slant surface reflects the intrinsic bias of the visual system and helps to define the perceptual space. Accordingly, we conducted two experiments in the dark to further elucidate the characteristics of the implicit slant surface. In the first experiment we measured the egocentric location of a dimly lit target on, or above, the ground, using the blind-walking-gesturing paradigm. Our results reveal that the judged target locations could be fitted by a line (surface), which indicates an intrinsic bias with a geographical slant of about 12.4 degrees. In the second experiment, with an exocentric/relative-distance task, we measured the judged ratio of aspect ratio of a fluorescent L-shaped target. Using trigonometric analysis, we found that the judged ratio of aspect ratio can be accounted for by assuming that the L-shaped target was perceived on an implicit slant surface with an average geographical slant of 14.4 degrees. That the data from the two experiments with different tasks can be fitted by implicit slant surfaces suggests that the intrinsic bias has a role in determining perceived space in the dark. The possible contribution of the intrinsic bias to representing the ground surface and its impact on space perception in the light environment are also discussed.     

The power of the imagination to affect peripersonal space representations

It is known that visual processing is altered for objects near the hands as well as for objects near the imagined position of the hands, indicating that the imagination can be used to remap peri-hand space. Little is known, however, about the physical conditions that allow for this remapping. In the present study, participants in one experiment performed visual searches through displays that were beyond reach while imagining that their hands were near the display. This imagined impossible posture slowed visual search rates, showing that imagination effectively remapped peri-hand space to be near the display. In another experiment, participants searched displays they were holding, but sometimes imagined their hands to be far away. This produced faster search rates, revealing a remapping of peri-hand space away from the monitor. The results provide new insights into the mechanisms involved in the representation of peri-hand space and about the power of imagined actions to influence body representations.