Item

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce first steps towards a logically consistent
framework describing and relating items concerning the phenomena of
spatial orientation processes, namely spatial presence, spatial
updating, piloting, and spatial cognition. Spatial
presence can for this purpose be seen as the consistent feeling of being in a specific
spatial context, and intuitively knowing where one is with respect
to the immediate surround.
The core idea of the framework is to model spatial orientation-related
issues by analyzing their logical and functional relations. This is
done by determining necessary and/or sufficient conditions between
related items like spatial presence, spatial orientation,
and spatial updating. This eventually leads to a set of necessary prerequisites
and sufficient conditions for those items. More specifically, the logical structure of
our framework suggests novel ways of quantifying spatial presence
and spatial updating.
Furthermore, it allows to disambiguate between two complementing types of automatic spatial
updating: On the one hand, the well-known continuous spatial updating induced by continuous movement
information. On the other hand, a novel type of discontinuous, teleport-like ``instantaneous spatial
updating'' that allows participants to quickly adopt the reference frame of a new location without
any explicit motion cues.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This research was funded by the Max-Planck Society and the Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 550 Erkennen, Lokalisieren, Handeln: neurokognitive Mechanismen und ihre
Flexibilität)