A purely geometric module in the rat's spatial representation

Chen, Ken

doi:10.1016/0010-0277(86)90041-7

Cited by 1,033 publications

(1,318 citation statements)

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“…According to the geometric module hypothesis (Cheng, 1986;Hermer & Spelke, 1996;Wang & Spelke, 2002), an animal reorients itself upon entry into a familiar environment using solely the geometric shape of the environment, but not other, nongeometric features, such as textures, colors, odors, or visual landmarks. Since the shape information must be somehow extracted from the sensory input, the conceptual brain module (Fodor, 1983) that extracts it must discard the nongeometric information present in the sensory input or, equivalently, be impenetrable to it (Gallistel, 1990).…”

Section: Simulation 3: Reorientation In Rectangular Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first one is derived from a working memory task and consists in the observation (Cheng, 1986) that rats often make rotational errors when they try to relocate a previously found food in a rectangular arena with distinct landmarks in the corners (see Figure 11A). More precisely, in this experiment, rats searched for food near the correct location in 46% of trials and near its diagonally opposite location in 28% of trials (they searched far from both locations during the remaining 26% of trials; see Figure 11C).…”

Section: Simulation 3: Reorientation In Rectangular Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a rectangular environment with symmetrically arranged landmarks, as well as in the environments where one of the walls has a different color (Cheng, 1986;Hermer & Spelke, 1996), the snapshots taken in opposite directions from rotationally opposite locations are highly similar (in terms of the difference between their filter representations). Hence, the rotational errors can be caused by the ambiguity of visual cues in the process of snapshot matching.…”

Section: Simulation 3: Reorientation In Rectangular Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a typical experiment, a food-deprived animal is shown the location of a food source in a rectangular arena with distinct landmarks in the corners (Cheng, 1986). The animal is subsequently disoriented and is allowed to relocate the food source.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Is there a geometric module for spatial orientation? Insights from a rodent navigation model.

Sheynikhovich¹,

Chavarriaga²,

Strösslin³

et al. 2009

Psychological Review

101

145

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Modern psychological theories of spatial cognition postulate the existence of a geometric module for reorientation. This concept is derived from experimental data showing that in rectangular arenas with distinct landmarks in the corners, disoriented rats often make diagonal errors, suggesting their preference for the geometric (arena shape) over the nongeometric (landmarks) cues. Moreover, sensitivity of hippocampal cell firing to changes in the environment layout was taken in support of the geometric module hypothesis. Using a computational model of rat navigation, the authors proposed and tested the alternative hypothesis that the influence of spatial geometry on both behavioral and neuronal levels can be explained by the properties of visual features that constitute local views of the environment. Their modeling results suggest that the pattern of diagonal errors observed in reorientation tasks can be understood by the analysis of sensory information processing that underlies the navigation strategy employed to solve the task. In particular, 2 navigation strategies were considered: (a) a place-based locale strategy that relies on a model of grid and place cells and (b) a stimulus-response taxon strategy that involves direct association of local views with action choices. The authors showed that the application of the 2 strategies in the reorientation tasks results in different patterns of diagonal errors, consistent with behavioral data. These results argue against the geometric module hypothesis by providing a simpler and biologically more plausible explanation for the related experimental data. Moreover, the same model also describes behavioral results in different types of water-maze tasks.

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Section: Simulation 3: Reorientation In Rectangular Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Simulation 3: Reorientation In Rectangular Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Simulation 3: Reorientation In Rectangular Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Is there a geometric module for spatial orientation? Insights from a rodent navigation model.

Sheynikhovich¹,

Chavarriaga²,

Strösslin³

et al. 2009

Psychological Review

101

145

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several studies have used a disorientation procedure, in which very young children must use information about the shape of a space they are enclosed in to specify location. The task was introduced by Cheng (1986) to investigate spatial processes in rats and was adapted for use with human toddlers by Spelke (1994, 1996). In this task, a child is placed inside a rectangular enclosure with identical containers in the four corners (see Figure 2) and watches while a target object is hidden in one of the corners.…”

Section: Disorientation Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%