Thesis (M. S.)--Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Gregory Corso, Committee Member ; Bruce Walker, Committee Chair ; Arthur Fisk, Committee Member.

Thesis (M.S.)--Indiana University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-64).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed May 30, 2007). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-127).

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Orientador: Pedro Paulo Scandiuzzi / Banca: Claude Lépne / Banca: Débora Cristina Jeffrey / Banca: Miriam Godoy Penteado / Banca: Romulo Campos Lins / Resumo: A presente pesquisa foi desenvolvida na comunidade Kalunga, remanescente de antigos quilombos que se formaram na região norte do Estado de Goiás, precisamente limitados pelos municípios de Cavalcante, Teresina e Monte Alegre de Goiás. Tal comunidade tem mais de 250 anos de existência, de vida autônoma e de contato com as culturas da sociedade nacional. Sua escolha se deu pelo fato de se tratar de uma comunidade que vive fora dos padrões sociais condicionantes daquilo que, até pouco tempo, era conhecido como único modelo de "civilização". Fundamentada nas teorias na Etnomatemática, que estuda as várias maneiras de explicar e de entender os distintos contextos naturais e socioeconômicos, diferenciados no tempo e no espaço, teve como objetivo principal descrever e analisar os múltiplos lugares e espaços onde está inserida a sua cultura e que são fundantes para a constituição do ser daquele povo. Embora tenha lançado um olhar limitado e a partir de referenciais eurocêntricos, buscamos compreender as dinâmicas produções de conhecimentos que se manifestam nas ações diárias que, em grande medida se enraíza nas tradições e, consequentemente, nas relações místico-sagradas. Pudemos perceber, a partir das observações, que os espaços construídos, baseados nas crenças e fortalecidos nas ocasiões de encontros sagrados, se projetam para os modos/maneiras de ver o mundo e de se situarem dentro dele; e se projeta para o entendimento e organização de seus lugares, o que nos permitiu interpretar de forma transcultural e holística acerca do que os saberes/fazeres representam para a construção do ser Kalunga. Usando as técnicas de caráter etnográfico, procuramos analisar o desenvolvimento dessa organização, levando em consideração seus aspectos históricos, sociais e circunstanciais / Abstract: This research was performed in Kalunga community, reminiscent of old quilombos that formed in the northern state of Goias, precisely limited by the municipalities of Cavalcante , Monte Alegre and Teresina de Goiás This community has more than 250 years of existence, of life autonomous and contact with the cultures of national society. His choice was the fact that it is a community that lives outside the social standards of what conditions, until recently, was known as the only model of "civilization". Based on theories in Ethnomathematics, who studies the various ways to explain and understand the different natural and socio-economic contexts, different in time and space, aimed to describe and analyze the multiple spaces and places where it is located and that their culture are a foundation for the constitution of that people. Although he released a limited look and from Eurocentric references, we sought to understand the dynamics of knowledge production that are manifested in the daily actions that are largely rooted in the traditions and, consequently, in the mystical and sacred relationships. We could see, from observations, that the built environment, based on the beliefs and strengthened in times of sacred meetings, project into the ways of seeing the world and are situated within it, which projects to the understanding and organization their places, in order to interpret cross- culturally and holistically about the knowing / doing to represent the construction of Kalunga be. Using ethnographic techniques, we analyze the development of the organization, taking into account its historical, social and circumstantial / Doutor

O propósito do presente trabalho foi investigar, a partir de uma configuração espacial de estímulos colineares no campo aberto, a acurácia e estabilidade dos ajustes e estimativas de distância. Para isso foram analisados os aspectos referidos ao emprego de uma tarefa de ajuste de colinearidade e os dados confrontados com o fenômeno perceptual de anisotropia do espaço percebido. Adicionalmente, os resultados foram ajustados a partir de diferentes modelos, avaliando suas implicações para a geometria do espaço visual. Ainda, foram considerados os aspectos cognitivos vinculados a este tipo de tarefa quando empregadas no campo aberto, especialmente, em relação à visualização mental e a correção cognitiva. Participaram do estudo, como voluntários nos diferentes experimentos, 96 observadores, com idade média de 26 anos para mulaquis e 28 anos para os homens. Na coleta de dados experimentais foram utilizados recursos técnicos implícitos - apontamento exocêntrico e, também, recursos diretos -estimativa verbal de distância em campo aberto. Os resultados revelaram que os observadores apresentaram um bom desempenho na tarefa de colinearidade, com erros variando sistematicamente em função da distância egocêntrica do alvo. Os alinhamentos de colinearidade foram similares aos encontrados na literatura e não apresentaram variações quando agregado mais um alvo marcando o centro da configuração espacial de estímulos. Os julgamentos de distância egocêntrica e exocêntrica foram ajustados usando diferentes modelos teóricos (linear, função de potência, Generalizado, Tangle). O melhor ajuste foi obtido pelo Tangle, o modelo não linear de Foley, Ribeiro-Filho e Da Silva (2004) (RMSE=0,29m para distância egocêntrica e 0,31m para distância exocêntrica). Neste modelo ficou evidenciado que a desigualdade do triângulo foi cumprida para ângulos que variavam desde 67 até 101 graus, enquanto a soma dos segmentos das linhas de colinearidade não igualou o valor da distância entre seus pontos extremos. A anisotropia do espaço visual encontrada, nos experimentos, foi coerente com a reportada na literatura, aparecendo como um fenômeno difícil de ser representado geometricamente. As evidências apresentadas nesta tese, apontam à relevância dos processos cognitivos no momento de realizar tarefas espaciais como: o ajuste de colinearidade, a visualização mental ou a estimação de distância, tendo um aumento das correções cognitivas se incrementada a complexidade do ambiente visual. Foram encontradas diferenças nos julgamentos segundo o sexo dos observadores, com variações dependentes das tarefas consideradas. Sumariando, o trabalho experimental apresentado permitiu agregar informações para área temática desta pesquisa, contribuindo com uma análise ampliada sobre procedimentos baseados no ajuste de colinearidade, à aplicação do modelo de Foley, Ribeiro-Filho e Da Silva (2004) em estimativas baseadas neste tipo de tarefas no campo aberto, e sobre os aspectos cognitivos intervenientes. / The purpose of the present work was to investigate, using a spatial configuration of collinear stimuli in the open field, the accuracy and stability of the adjustments and distance estimates. Aspects related with the collinearity task were analyzed and the data confronted with the phenomenon of the anisotropy of perceived space. In addition, the results were fitted using different theoretical models, assessing their implications for the geometry of the visual space. The cognitive aspects related with this kind of task, when used in the open field, were also considered, particularly these referred to mental visualization and cognitive correction. 96 volunteers participated in the different experiments of this study, with a mean age of 26 years old for women and 28 for the men. In the collection of the experimental data, indirect measures were used, in particular a kind of exocentric pointing task, and, also, direct measures, like verbal judgments. The result shows that the observers achieved a good performance in the collinearity task, with errors varying systematically in function of the egocentric distance to the target. The results of the collinearity task were analogous to those found in the literature, and they didnt show significant variations when one more target, indicating the center of the spatial configuration of stimuli, was added on. The egocentric and exocentric distance judgments were adjusted using different theoretical models (lineal, power function, Common model, Tangle). The best fit was obtained by the Tangle, the non-linear model of Foley, Ribeiro-Filho and Da Silva (2004) (with RMSE=0,29m for egocentric distances and 0,31m for exocentric distances). In this model it was evidenced that the inequality of the triangle was accomplished for angles that varied from 67 to 101 degrees, while the sum of the segments of the collinearity lines didnt equal the value of the total distance among their extreme points. The anisotropy of the visual space found in the experiments, was coaquint with the reports in the literature, appearing as a phenomenon difficult of being represented geometrically. The evidences presented in this work point to the relevance of the cognitive processes when performing spatial tasks such as: collinearity adjust, mental visualization, distance estimation, with the cognitive corrections increasing as the complexity of the visual environment grown. They were also found differences in the judgements according to the observers sex, with variations depending on the considered tasks. Summarizing, the present experimental work contributed to this area of research, with an analysis aproximadamente the procedures based on the adjust of collinearity, the application of the theoretical model of Foley, Ribeiro-Filho and Da Silva (2004) in estimatives based on this kind of tasks in the open field, as well on the related cognitive aspects.

Performing goal-directed hand-movements in the presence of obstacles is a task that we usually complete successfully many times a day without much conscious consideration. Yet, little is known about the underlying processes. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the role of perceptual, motor and cognitive constraints on obstacle avoidance during reaching. To do this a tabletop-based obstacle avoidance setup and motiontracking were used. In the first experimental chapter, the previously reported tendency of participants to select movement paths that pass roughly through the mid-point between two obstacles was examined. The starting position of the hand and the availability of visual feedback were manipulated and evidence was found that movement path selection depends on both a collision-avoidance strategy and the associated biomechanical costs; even when visual feedback is unavailable. The second experimental chapter investigated an action-blindsight phenomenon, specifically the ability of cortically blind patients to avoid unseen obstacles. It was found that only two out of the six patients tested potentially showed some residual sensitivity to obstacles in their blind visual field. The final two experimental chapters went further to examine the role of perceptual information and attentional mechanisms respectively. It was found that during obstacle avoidance participants predominantly look at the movement target and rarely towards any obstacles or their moving hand. Furthermore, they tend to move their hand away from obstacles that are fixated. Finally, it was also found that a concurrent attentional task affected movement path selection in a similar way. At present it is unclear whether these perceptual and attentional effects are additive or independent of each other. Overall, these findings suggest that both conscious visual information and attentional mechanisms are crucial factors in determining movement path selection during obstacle avoidance in reaching.

In recent years, the focus of cartographic research has shifted from the cartographic communication paradigm to the scientific visualization paradigm. With this, there has been a resurgence of cognitive research that is invaluable in guiding the design and evaluation of effective cartographic visualization tools. The design of new tools that allow effective visual exploration of spatial data and data quality information in a resource management setting is critical if decision-makers and policy setters are to make accurate and confident decisions that will have a positive long-term impact on the environment. The research presented in this dissertation integrates the results of previous research in spatial cognition, visualization of spatial information and on-line map use in order to explore the design, development and experimental testing of four interactive visualization tools that can be used to simultaneously explore spatial data and data quality. Two are traditional online tools (side-by-side and sequenced maps) and two are newly developed tools (an interactive "merger" bivariate map and a hybrid o f the merger map and the hypermap). The key research question is: Are interactive visualization tools, such as interactive bivariate maps and hypermaps, more effective for communicating spatial information than less interactive tools such as sequenced maps? A methodology was developed in which subjects used the visualization tools to explore a forest species composition and associated data quality map in order to perform a range of map-use tasks. Tasks focused on an imaginary land-use conflict for a small region of mixed boreal forest in Northern Alberta. Subject responses in terms of performance (accuracy and confidence) and preference are recorded and analyzed. Results show that theory-based, well-designed interactive tools facilitate improved performance across all tasks, but there is an optimal matching between specific tasks and tools. The results are generalized into practical guidelines for software developers. The use of confidence as a measure of map-use effectiveness is verified. In this experimental setting, individual differences (in terms of preference, ability, gender etc.) did not significantly affect performance. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The ability to learn spatiotemporal characteristics of biologically significant events is advantageous for an animal and is known as time-place learning (TPL). Gallistel (1990) proposed an influential theory positing that whenever a biologically significant event occurred, a memory code was automatically formed, encoding the nature of the event, and the time and place in which it occurred. When the animal is later faced with a biological need it could consult these memory codes and determine when and where that need had been met in the past. This information could be used to guide current behaviour. Importantly, Gallistel theorized that the encoding of the spatiotemporal characteristics of an event into a tripartite code was an automatic process. Despite the appealing power and simplicity of Gallistel's theory, I have provided arguments suggesting that it has serious limitations. Perhaps the most damaging evidence against this theory is the reluctance of rats to demonstrate daily TPL (i.e., events that vary in location depending on time of day). Widman, Gordon, and Timberlake (2000) argue that for TPL to occur the response cost for incorrect decisions must be high. While this hypothesis is unable to explain the inconsistencies in TPL, it does highlight the fact that animals do not automatically store time-place-event information as a tripartite code. If they did, it would not make sense for them to ignore such information in some tasks. I have provided an alternative hypothesis that states that whenever a biologically significant event occurs two bipartite memory codes (time-event and place-event) are automatically formed. Only under some conditions, perhaps those with high response cost, do animals form tripartite codes. For this reason, rats often have difficulty learning a TPL task; although rats easily learn a place preference for those places that provide reinforcement (place-event), and easily learn a go/no-go discrimination (time-event). This thesis provides data from both the daily and interval TPL realms supporting the proposed theory of bipartite codes. Although rats do not readily learn daily TPL tasks, they do demonstrate knowledge of interval TPL under a variety of conditions designed to enhance the ecological validity of the task. The properties of interval TPL are discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Spatial-based attention is shown to vary in strength over short intervals of time. Whether object-based selection also has similar temporal variability is not known. Egly, Driver and Rafal (1994) demonstrated using 2-rectangle displays how both spatial and object-based selection engages in processing of a visual scene. In Experiment-1 using the 2-rectangle paradigm we measured temporal variability of target detection by presenting targets at a variable SOA. In Experiment-2, we used 4-squares to preclude any object-based selection and measured temporal variability in target detection at similar locations as in Experiment-1. We found target detection to be periodic in delta and theta hertz rhythm in both Experiment-1 and Experiment-2 upon comparing corresponding cue-valid and same-object locations. Similar spectral profiles across experiments indicate a split-spotlight of spatial attention that rhythmically monitors cue-valid and other invalid locations. Future experiments are needed to determine whether object-based selection is periodic in nature. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection