Representing space in language and perception
Abstract
Abstract: Space can be understood through perception and language, but are the processes that represent spatial information the same in both cases? This paper reviews psychological evidence for the functional equivalence of spatial representations based on perceptual and linguistic inputs. It is proposed that spatial information is processed by a specialised spatial representation system (SRS) that creates geometric representations of space. The SRS receives inputs from perceptual and linguistic systems and uses these basic inputs to construct mental spatial models of the observed or described environment. A mental spatial model is created by determining the coordinate locations of objects in the egocentric or allocentric frame of reference. The goal of the SRS is not to represent strictly what is perceived, but to model an environment that has an inherent three‐dimensional spatial structure.
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All of these models argue that information learned from separate inputs is stored in unified amodal spatial representations in the brain that can be accessed and acted upon in a functionally equivalent manner.
“At their core, all of these models argue that the information learned from separate inputs is stored in unified “amodal” spatial representations in the brain that can be accessed and acted upon in a functionally equivalent manner”
From Cognitive Mapping Without Vision: Comparing Wayfinding Performance After Learning From Digital Touchscreen-Based Multimodal Maps vs. Embossed Tactile Overlays (2020) · cites this paper as Bryant, 1997
Cites
Generating visual images: Units and relations.
Kosslyn, S. M., Reiser, B. J., Farah, M. J., & Fliegel, S. L. (1983) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.112.2.278 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
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Navigating without vision: principles of blind spatial cognition
Giudice, N. A. (2018) · Handbook of Behavioral and Cognitive Geography · doi:10.4337/9781784717544.00024 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Giudice, N. A., Betty, M. R., & Loomis, J. M. (2011) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition · doi:10.1037/a0022331 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Giudice, N. A., Guenther, B. A., Jensen, N. A., & Haase, K. N. (2020) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2020.00087 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
“…in the brain that can be accessed and acted upon in a functionally equivalent manner when supporting subsequent spatial behaviors, e.g., the Spatial Image (Loomis et al., 2013), the metamodal brain (Pascual-Frontiers Leone and Hamilton, 2001), or the spatial representation system (Bryant, 1997).”
BackgroundIndoor Spatial Updating with Impaired Vision
Legge, G. E., Granquist, C., Baek, Y., & Gage, R. (2016) · Investigative Opthalmology & Visual Science · doi:10.1167/iovs.16-20226 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
- Authors
- BRYANT, D. J.
- Corresponding author
- BRYANT, DAVID J.
- Venue
- Mind & Language
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1997-09
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 239-264
- ISSN
- 0268-1064 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-0017
- OpenAlex
- W2003727173
- Cited by
- 81
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 6.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Mind & Language (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Categorization, perception, and language
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Language, Metaphor, and Cognition
- Keywords
- spatial representation, spatial perception, spatial language, egocentric reference frame, allocentric reference frame
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