Mental representations of environments are embodied in cognitive maps. Cognitive maps enclose spatial and distance distortions, which appear due to transcription errors based on processing of map information. Participants processed complex cartographical maps of varying amounts of visual details like topography, boundaries and grid to examine their effects on recall and orientation performance....

Various brain imaging techniques have become available in the past decade. These include techniques to evaluate brain structure, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, and techniques to assess functional activity, such as measurement of regional cerebral blood flow, single photon emission computed tomography, and positron emission tomography. These techniques can be used to...

One of the most influencing theories in numerical cognition proposes a specialized cognitive system for extracting number out of visual displays. This system has been suggested to map number onto a mental representation of space, the mental number line. While initially number extraction was said to occur independent of visual features, recent evidences challenge this view. After introducing the...

Microscopically detectable deletions and X;autosome translocations have previously facilitated the construction of a high-resolution interval map of the Xq21 region. Here, we have generated three yeast artificial chromosome contigs spanning approximately 7 megabases of the Xq13.3-q21.31 region. In addition, a novel deletion associated with choroideremia and mental retardation was identified and...

We describe a practical approach for visualizing dynamic relational data and multiple relationships on the same data using a geographic map metaphor, where clusters of nodes form countries and neighboring countries correspond to nearby clusters. Our aim is to compare two or more maps obtained using different similarity metrics and to provide an interactive tool to visually explore the effect of...

An approach, called map analysis, for extracting, analyzing and combining representations of individual’s mental models as cognitive maps is presented. This textual analysis technique allows the researcher to extract cognitive maps, locate similarities across maps, and combine maps to generate a team map. Using map analysis the researcher can address questions about the nature of team mental mo...

Background. Magical thinking, a sign of schizotypy, is accompanied by a decrease in the strength of left hemisphere language dominance and by an inattention towards the right side of space ("pseudoneglect"). We set out to explore whether it is also associated with a pseudoneglect in imagined space. Material and methods. Forty healthy right-handed adults were asked to imagine the contours of the...

In this paper we introduce two novel algorithms for drawing sequences of orthogonal and hierarchical graphs while preserving the mental map. Both algorithms can be parameterized to trade layout quality for dynamic stability. In particular, we had to develop new metrics which work upon the intermediate results of layout phases. We discuss some properties of the resulting animations by means of e...

Human reasoning about spatial environments, sketching and drawing in design , or solving of spatial configuration tasks often involves utilizing external graphical representations such as sketches, maps, or diagrams as well as mental spatio-analogical representations (e.g. in a visuo-spatial format, such as employed and constructed in mental imagery). Processes involved in the reasoning include...

Background. Magical thinking, a sign of schizotypy, is accompanied by a decrease in the strength of left hemisphere language dominance and by an inattention towards the right side of space ("pseudoneglect"). We set out to explore whether it is also associated with a pseudoneglect in imagined space. Material and methods. Forty healthy right-handed adults were asked to imagine the contours of the...