类别与数量空间关系识别加工中的练习效应研究

本研究通过检测20名飞行员及其控制组的视觉空间关系识别中的认知加工水平,旨在探讨视觉空间关系识别中的类别关系和数量关系加工子系统所表现出的练习效应水平的高低。研究结果表明,在参与视觉空间关系判断的两个典型加工子系统中,负责数量(坐标)空间关系判断的加工子系统随系统训练而表现出功能增强的练习效应。相对而言,涉及类别空间关系判断的加工子系统则较少受到练习的影响。研究揭示,由于受大脑神经解剖结构特点以及加工任务性质的影响,练习效应在神经网络上的分布是不平衡的。相对于类别空间关系加工子系统,数量空间关系加工子系统更多地表现出了练习效应这一典型的认知神经加工特性。     

视觉空间关系识别中的认知加工特性

通过两个实验分别检测 2 0名飞行员和 10名老年被试及其相应控制组的视觉空间关系识别中的认知加工水平 ,旨在探讨视觉空间关系识别中的类别关系和数量关系加工子系统所表现出的认知特性。研究结果表明 ,在参与视觉空间关系判断的两个典型加工子系统中 ,负责数量 (坐标 )空间关系判断的加工子系统既可随系统训练而表现出功能增强的练习效应 ,也可随年老过程而发生功能衰减的年龄效应。相对而言 ,涉及类别空间关系判断的加工子系统则较少受到练习和年老化因素的影响。研究提示 ,由于受大脑神经解剖结构特点以及加工任务性质的影响 ,数量空间关系加工子系统更多地表现出了认知加工的可塑性和易变性特点 ,而类别空间关系加工子系统则表现出相对的稳定性或可塑性较低的认知特性     

视觉空间关系判断的分离与协同

采用任务表征相互影响范式,通过三个实验探讨了类别空间关系判断和数量空间关系判断的加工特性和相互关系.结果表明:(1)先行类别关系启动有利于数量空间关系判断,对类别空间关系判断没有影响;先行数量关系启动对两个判断任务均无影响.(2)先行类别关系干扰降低两个空间关系判断的绩效,先行数量关系干扰对两个空间关系判断没有影响.(3)先行类别关系对空间关系判断的启动和干扰效应不局限于特定条件,具有普遍性.研究提示,右脑为优势半球的数量关系加工以左脑为优势半球的类别关系加工为基础,支持视觉空间认知加工既分离又协同的观点.     

注意瞬脱对视觉空间关系判断的影响

将RSVP范式和视觉空间关系研究范式相结合,以两个实验探讨了注意瞬脱对视觉空间关系判断的影响。结果发现,类别和数量空间关系判断之间出现了实验性分离:类别空间关系判断表现出较大的注意瞬脱效应,数量空间关系判断只有轻度注意瞬脱效应。这说明,类别和数量空间关系加工子系统具有不同信息加工特性:前者依赖实时注意资源,其编码过程更多涉及控制性加工;后者较少依赖实时注意资源,其编码过程更多涉及自动加工。另外,还运用注意瞬脱理论对结果进行了解释。     

基于参数表征的数量空间关系加工

空间关系的理解是概念表征向知觉表征的转化, 而空间关系的表达则是知觉表征向概念表征的转化。两种表征的转化以参照系为中介。视觉数量空间关系加工属于知觉表征向概念表征转化的空间关系表达过程。本研究通过控制方向、朝向及距离在启动与探测中的匹配关系, 采用三个实验探讨了数量空间关系加工中参照系各参数的表征及其相互作用。结果发现：(1) 数量空间关系加工中存在方向表征, 一定任务情境下存在朝向表征。(2) 距离匹配的促进效果只在启动刺激和探测刺激的方位关系处于参照系同轴时发生。这些结果进而说明, 数量空间关系加工中内隐地包含类别空间关系表征, 一定任务情境下, 可能存在垂直/水平的类别空间关系表征; 数量空间关系加工中的距离是联系于参照系轴的表征。     

运动轨迹和方向对视觉空间关系加工的影响

视觉空间关系分为类别与数量两种表征。研究通过控制起参照作用的运动客体消失状态与定位客体出现时间,分析客体运动信息对两种关系判断的影响。结果发现:运动信息在各间隔时间对类别任务影响呈序列排列,运动方向较轨迹信息有优势,轨迹较法线信息有优势;数量表征仅在0ms间隔受运动方向促进,在其他间隔下,三种位置上的判断均无差异。结果表明运动客体类别表征比数量表征更持久;且相对类别表征,数量判断作为精确距离表征不易受运动方向和轨迹信息影响。     

非语言情境中时间加工与空间距离加工的关系

时间加工与空间距离加工的关系主要有两种, 一种是在空距离–空时距以及动物的研究中, 时间加工影响空间距离加工, 空间距离加工影响时间加工, 两者相互影响, 存在对称的干扰, 这种关系与注意和记忆有关。另一种是在实距离–实时距中, 空间距离加工影响时间加工, 而时间加工不受空间距离加工的影响, 时间加工和空间距离加工之间具有不对称的干扰。时空关系的不对称与隐喻理论、人们的感知运动经验和时空信息的显著性有关。神经机制上, 右顶叶皮质、侧顶内区、左顶叶皮质、小脑、前额等参与时间加工和空间距离加工, 但两种加工涉及到的神经机制也有部分差异。未来可以从时间加工的分段性、不同条件下时间加工和空间距离加工的心理机制以及脑机制进行研究。     

视觉表象产生的大脑半球专门化效应

采用Kosslyn单侧视野速示技术, 以英文字母图片为学习材料, 通过三个实验考察了视觉表象产生的大脑半球专门化效应。实验一提出在两种类型的视觉表象产生任务中, 有两种截然不同的加工起作用, 但却不能直接证实这两种不同加工机制的存在。实验二和实验三则进一步证实了两种表象产生任务具有不同的认知加工机制, 并表现出不同的大脑半球专门化效应。上述研究表明: 大脑两半球均参与产生视觉心理表象, 但分工不同, 并表现出不同的单侧化效应: 大脑左半球通过运用类别空间关系产生表象更有效, 大脑右半球运用数量空间关系产生表象更有效。结果进一步拓展了Kosslyn关于视觉空间关系加工的大脑半球专门化观点。     

远、近空间内注意加工的分离

临床证据发现空间忽视症病人对于近处和远处空间内的注意加工存在差异,表现为空间忽视只发生于近处空间或只发生于远处空间,提示近处空间与远处空间在脑内可能是分别表征的。对健康成人的研究也发现了与之类似的近处空间和远处空间注意的分离现象,即在近处空间表现出左偏的伪忽视现象,在远处空间表现出左偏减弱或者右偏的趋势。本文综述了远、近空间内注意加工分离的实验证据以及采用线段二分任务这一主要的研究范式相关的实验结果,并且着重指出了远、近空间的划分不是绝对的,而是动态可变的研究证据。最后,指出了将来的研究需要深入考察空间参照系统在远、近空间知觉中的作用,以及关注社会交互情境下的远、近空间距离认知的动态变化。     

三维情境中类别空间关系加工的影响因素研究——观察角度、刺激位置及背景属性

研究采用目标-类别范式,通过两个实验探讨三维情境中观察角度、靶刺激所在物体颜色和形状的相似性、靶刺激空间距离及离开水平方向的角度对类别空间关系加工的影响。研究结果表明,在不同的观察角度,获得物体的信息越多,类别空间关系判断越容易;背景颜色相似性高类别空间关系加工的效率较低;两个靶刺激之间的距离对于类别空间判断影响较小;靶刺激观察角度为竖直和水平方向时,类别空间关系判断的效率较低。     

Individual differences in spatial relation processing: effects of strategy, ability, and gender

Numerous studies have focused on the distinction between categorical and coordinate spatial relations. Categorical relations are propositional and abstract, and often related to a left hemisphere advantage. Coordinate relations specify the metric information of the relative locations of objects, and can be linked to right hemisphere processing. Yet, not all studies have reported such a clear double dissociation; in particular the categorical left hemisphere advantage is not always reported. In the current study we investigated whether verbal and spatial strategies, verbal and spatial cognitive abilities, and gender could account for the discrepancies observed in hemispheric lateralization of spatial relations. Seventy-five participants performed two visual half field, match-to-sample tasks (Van der Ham, van Wezel, Oleksiak, & Postma, 2007; Van der Ham, Raemaekers, van Wezel, Oleksiak, and Postma, 2009) to study the lateralization of categorical and coordinate relation processing. For each participant we determined the strategy they used in each of the two tasks. Consistent with previous findings, we found an overall categorical left hemisphere advantage and coordinate right hemisphere advantage. The lateralization pattern was affected selectively by the degree to which participants used a spatial strategy and by none of the other variables (i.e., verbal strategy, cognitive abilities, and gender). Critically, the categorical left hemisphere advantage was observed only for participants that relied strongly on a spatial strategy. This result is another piece of evidence that categorical spatial relation processing relies on spatial and not verbal processes.     

A Possible Connection between Categorical and Coordinate Spatial Relation Representations

Kosslyn (1987) theorized that the visual system uses two types of spatial relations. Categorical spatial relations represent a range of locations as an equivalence class, whereas coordinate spatial relations represent the precise distance between two objects. Data indicate a left hemisphere (LH) advantage for processing categorical spatial relations and a right hemisphere (RH) advantage for processing coordinate spatial relations. Although generally assumed to be independent processes, this article proposes a possible connection between categorical and coordinate spatial relations. Specifically, categorical spatial relations may be an initial stage in the formation of coordinate spatial relations. Three experiments tested the hypothesis that categorical information would benefit tasks that required coordinate judgments. Experiments 1 and 2 presented categorical information before participants made coordinate judgments and coordinate information before participants made categorical judgments. Categorical information sped the processing of a coordinate task under a range of experimental variables; however, coordinate information did not benefit categorical judgments. Experiment 3 used this priming paradigm to present stimuli in the left or right visual field. Although visual field differences were present in the third experiment, categorical information did not speed the processing of a coordinate task. The lack of priming effects in Experiment 3 may have been due to methodological changes. In general, support is provided that categorical spatial relations may act as an initial step in the formation of more precise distance representations, i.e., coordinate spatial relations.     

The development of categorical and coordinate spatial relations

Two classes of spatial relations can be distinguished in between and within object representations. Kosslyn [Kosslyn, S. M. (1987). Seeing and imagining in the cerebral hemispheres: A computational approach. Psychological Review, 94, 148–175] suggested that the right hemisphere (RH) is specialized for processing coordinate (metric) spatial information and the left hemisphere (LH) processes categorical (abstract) information more effectively. The present study examined the developmental pattern of spatial relation processing in 6–8-year old, 10–12-year old and adults. Using signal detection analyses we calculated sensitivity and bias scores for all age groups. The results indicated that older children and adults showed a greater response bias than younger children. Also, discrimination sensitivity for spatial relation changes clearly improved with age. For the oldest children (10–12-year old) and adults this improvement was accompanied by a RH specialization. In contrast with Kosslyn's claim, this RH advantage also applied to the processing of categorical spatial information. The results are discussed in terms of a right hemispheric specialization for spatial relation processing which matures with age.     

The nature of categorical and coordinate spatial relation processing: An interference study

Spatial relation information can be encoded in two different ways: categorically, which is abstract, and coordinately, which is metric. Although categorical and coordinate spatial relation processing is commonly conceived as relying on spatial representations and spatial cognitive processes, some suggest that representations and cognitive processes involved in categorical spatial relation processing can be verbal as well as spatial. We assessed the extent to which categorical and coordinate spatial relation processing engages verbal and spatial representations and processes using a dual-task paradigm. Participants performed the classical dot-bar paradigm and simultaneously performed either a spatial tapping task, or an articulatory suppression task. When participants were requested to tap blocks in a given pattern (spatial tapping), their performance decreased in both the categorical and coordinate tasks compared to a control condition without interference. In contrast, articulatory suppression did not affect performance in either spatial relation task. A follow-up experiment indicated that this outcome could not be attributed to different levels of difficulty of the two interference tasks. These results provide strong evidence that both coordinate and categorical spatial relation processing relies mainly on spatial mechanisms. These findings have implications for theories on why categorical and coordinate spatial relations processing are lateralised in the brain.     

Hemispheric specialization for categorical and coordinate spatial representations: A reappraisal

The purpose of the present study was to examine Kosslyn's (1987) claim that the left hemisphere (LH) is specialized for the computation of categorical spatial representations and that the right hemisphere (RH) is specialized for the computation of coordinate spatial representations. Categorical representations involve making judgements about the relative position of the components of a visual stimulus (e.g., whether one component is above/below another). Coordinate representations involve calibrating absolute distances between the components of a visual stimulus (e.g., whether one component is within 5 mm of another). Thirty-two male and 32 female undergraduates were administered two versions of a categorical or a coordinate task over three blocks of 36 trials. Within each block, items were presented to the right visual field-left hemisphere (RVF-LH), the left visual field-right hemisphere (LVF-RH), or a centralized position. Overall, results were more supportive of Kosslyn's assertions concerning the role played by the RH in the computation of spatial representations. Specifically, subjects displayed an LVF-RH advantage when performing both versions of the coordinate task. The LVF-RH advantage on the coordinate task, however, was confirmed to the first block of trials. Finally, it was found that males were more likely than females to display faster reaction times (RTs) on coordinate tasks, slower RTs on categorical tasks, and an LVF-RH advantage in computing coordinate tasks.     

基于线索的视觉空间关系判断

融合视觉空间关系识别中的类别关系判断和数量（坐标）关系判断,通过4个实验探讨了影响视觉空间关系判断的线索性方面的因素。结果表明：视觉空间关系判断受角度影响不明显;单线索条件下刺激越靠近可视线索,判断绩效越好;多线索条件下在不显著延长反应时间的情况下有助于提高视觉空间关系判断的正确率;另外不均匀条件（边界线有一定斜率）不利于视觉空间关系的判断。