Spatial representation of coherence.

Abstract

Four experiments examined spatial correlates of the experience of coherence, that is, the extent to which propositions 'fit together'. Experiment 1 demonstrates for Heiderian triads (i.e., sets of liking/disliking relations between three fictitious persons) that name pairs from balanced triads, such as two friends commonly disliking a third person (high coherence) are seen as closer to each other in physical space as compared to name pairs from unbalanced triads, such as two persons disliking each other and having a common friend (low coherence). This pattern of results is conceptually replicated in two further experiments for categorical syllogisms. Two terms in conclusions from valid syllogisms (high coherence) were seen as spatially closer to each other than when two terms came from invalid syllogisms (low coherence). In the final two experiments, similar closeness effects are demonstrated for word pairs from scenarios that "made sense" in terms of causal connectedness (latent causality) as opposed to word pairs from scenarios perceived as causally unconnected. These findings are discussed in the context of spatial binding theories, applied psychology, and embodied cognition in general, and their methodological implications are highlighted.Word count: 184 1 In this research we seek to present evidence for spatial processing as a correlate, or mediating mechanism, of the experience of coherence. 'Coherence', or the extent to which claims or pieces of evidence 'fit' together, is a notion that is central to people's evaluation of information. It has consequently attracted interest from philosophers (e.g., Olsson, 2005;Bovens & Hartmann, 2003), cognitive scientists interested in theory formation and explanation (e.g., Thagard, 2000), and psychologists interested in the evaluation of evidence, testimony, and witness credibility (e.g., Berman & Cutler, 1996;Berman, Narby, & Cutler, 1995;Brewer, Potter, Fisher, Bond, & Luszcz , 1999;Harris & Hahn, 2009). The concept has also been used to shape or reformulate theories on action planning and goal-related reasoning (Thagard & Millgram, 1995), as well as impression formation, where judgments about other people have to be generated based on piecemeal information on traits and behaviours (Kunda & Thagard, 1996). Also, text and discourse comprehension has been described as a coherence problem, involving the simultaneous assignment of meanings to different words and expressions (Kintsch, 1988; MacDonald, Pearlmutter, & Seidenberg, 1994).At the most general level, coherence is seen as the degree to which a number of ideas make sense as an entire set. This criterion can be applied to propositions within theoretical systems, whereby coherence appears as a criterion for the truth of the whole system (e.g., Quine & Ullian, 1978). Closer to psychology, Thagard (2000) defined coherence in terms of parallel constraint satisfaction problems, whereby in a process of "mental balancing" (p. 3) complementary and conflicting pieces of information are integrated until they all f...

Bound together: Social binding leads to faster processing, spatial distortion, and enhanced memory of interacting partners.

“…Moreover, even higher level properties of the dyad members are grouped in such a way and accessed more rapidly. The results of Experiment 3 especially provide support for the binding account, where recall of the properties associated with interacting individuals such as the person identity, direction the person faced or the color of their shirt, was better than that of noninteracting individuals, in a manner similar to von Hecker, Hahn, and Rollings (2016). It should be noted that the current set of experiments only considered dyads, that is, interindividual interactions.…”

Close to the same: Similarity influences remembered distance between stimuli

“…The present findings highlight the reverse direction of influence: conceptual or perceptual similarity systematically influences remembered spatial distance. This finding is also in line with work showing that the degree to which stimuli are seen as coherent, influences perception of their spatial proximity (von Hecker et al, 2016 ). In sum: Not only does closeness influence perceptions of similarity, but similarity also influences perceptions of and memory for closeness.…”

The Effect of Wing Chun Day Punch Boxing Based on Embedded Microprocessor

“…When the output signal is not saturated, this article adopts a digital fitting method of amplitude and phase. It adopts the method of summing first, then multiplication, which saves processing time and improves measurement efficiency [4,30]. Assuming that the number of sampling cycles is n and the amount of sampled data in each cycle is N, only (n − 1) N addition operations and N multiplication operations are required, and the result of the sine function is solidified in the memory, which saves time.…”