Abstract
We present an approach to spatial reasoning that is based on homogenous coordinate systems and their transformations. In contrast to qualitative approaches, spatial relations are not represented by symbolic expressions only but additionally by parameters with constraints, which are subsets of real numbers. Our work is based on the notion of mental models in text understanding introduced in cognitive science. That is, we model the understanding of descriptions of spatial configurations by constructing a representation of the class of situations that are compatible with the description. Within our approach a spatial relation between two objects is represented by constraining the position of one of the objects with respect to the reference frame of the other one. That is, inferences of spatial relations not given explicitly in a text depend on the frame of reference which is presumed by the (human or computer) system. In this paper we describe a general framework for spatial reasoning based on the notion of mental models and we present some empirical results concerning the influence of the selected reference frame on the inference process.
Fritz Wysotzki is the coordinator of the project. Authors are listed in alphabetical order. This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in the project “Modellierung von Inferenzen in Mentalen Modellen” (Wy 20/2-1) within the priority program on spatial cognition (“Raumkognition”).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Ambler, A. P. and R. J. Popplestone (1975). Inferring the Positions of Bodies from Specified Spatial Relationships. Artificial Intelligence 6, 157–174.
Anderson, J. and G. Bower (1973). Human Associative Memory. Washington, D.C.: Winston.
Berendt, B. (1996). The utility of mental images: How to construct stable mental models in an unstable image medium. In U. Schmid, J. Krems, and F. Wysotzki (Hrsg.), Proceedings of the First European Workshop on Cognitive Modeling, Forschungsberichte des Fachbereichs Informatik, Report No. 96-39, S. 97–103. TU Berlin.
Bryant, D. J. and B. Tversky (1992). Assessing spatial frameworks with object and direction probes. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 30, 29–32.
Bryant, D. J., B. Tversky, and N. Franklin (1992). Internal and external spatial frameworks for representing described scenes. Journal of Memory and Language 31, 74–98.
Bühler, K. (1982). The deictic field of language and deictic words. In R. J. Jarvella and W. Klein (Hrsg.), Speech, place, and action. Studies in deixis and related topics. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. English reprint. Originally published in 1934.
Franklin, N., L. A. Henkel, and T. Zangas (1995). Parsing surrounding space into regions. Memory and Cognition 23(4), 397–407.
Franklin, N. and B. Tversky (1990). Searching imagined environments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 119, 63–76.
Franklin, N., B. Tversky, and V. Coon (1992). Switching points of view in spatial mental models. Memory and Cognition 20(5), 507–518.
Garnham, A. (1985). Psycholinguistics: Central Topics. Routledge.
Gips, C., P. Geibel, S. Wiebrock, and F. Wysotzki (1998). Learning Spatial Relations with CAL5 and TRITOP. In preparation.
Glasgow, J. and D. Papadias (1992). Computational Imagery. Cognitive Science 16, 355–394.
Guesgen, H. W. (1989). Spatial reasoning based on Allen’s temporal logic. Technical Report TR-89-049, ICSI, Berkeley, Cal.
Guesgen, H. W. (1997). Towards hybrid spatial reasoning. In T. P. Martin and A. L. Ralescu (Hrsg.), Fuzzy Logic in Artificial Intelligence. Towards Intelligent Systems, LNAI 1188, S. 197–206. Springer. IJCAI’95 Workshop, Montreal CDN, Selected Papers.
Hernández, D. (1991). Relative representation of spatial knowledge: the 2-D case. In D. M. Merk and A. Frank (Hrsg.), Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space, S. 373–385. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Hörnig, R., B. Claus, and K. Eyferth (1997). Objektzugriff in Mentalen Modellen: Eine Frage der Perspektive. In C. Umbach, M. Grabski, and R. Hörnig (Hrsg.), Perspektive in Sprache und Raum. Deutscher Universitätsverlag, Wiesbaden.
Johnson-Laird, P. and R. Byrne (1991). Deduction. Hillsdale, NL: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1983). Mental Models: Towards a Cognitive Science of Language, Inference and Consciousness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jörding, T. and I. Wachsmuth (1996). An Antropomorphic Agent for the Use of Spatial Language. In Proceedings of ECAI’96-Workshop on Representation and Processing of Spatial Expressions, S. 41–53.
Knauff, M., C. Schlieder, R. Rauh, and G. Strube (1998). Mental Models in Spatial Reasoning. This volume.
Lenzmann, B. and I. Wachsmuth (1996). A user-adaptive interface agency for interaction with a virtual environment. In G. Weiss and S. Sen (Hrsg.), Adaptation and Learning in Multi-Agent Systems, LNAI 1042, S. 140–151. Springer Verlag.
Miller, G. A. and P. N. Johnson-Laird (1976). Language and perception. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Mittal, N. and A. Mukerjee (1995). Qualitative Subdivision Algebra: moving towards the Quantitative. Technical Report TR 95-23, UT Austin, CS Dept.
Mukerjee, A. and N. Mittal (1995). A qualitative representation of frametransformation motions in 3-dimensional space. In Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Robotics & Automation.
O’Keefe, J. (1989). Computations the hippocampus might perform. In Neural connections, mental computation, S. 225–284. Cambrdige, MA: MIT Press.
Paivio, A. (1971). Imagery and Verbal Processes. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Pribbenow, S. (1993, Dezember). Räumliche Inferenzen und Bilder. KI 4, 7–13.
Renz, J. and B. Nebel (1997). On the Complexity of Qualitative Spatial Reasoning: A Maximal Tractable Fragment of RCC-8. In Proceedings of the 11th International Workshop on Qualitative Reasoning QR 97.
Schlieder, C. (1996). A Computational Account of Preferences in Mental Model Construction. In U. Schmid, J. Krems, and F. Wysotzki (Hrsg.), Proceedings of the First European Workshop on Cognitive Modeling, Forschungsberichte des Fachbereichs Informatik, Report No. 96-39, S. 90–96. TU Berlin.
Schlieder, C. (1998). Two Approaches to Qualitative Spatial Reasoning: Constraint Satisfaction and Model Construction. Forschungsberichte des Fachbereichs Informatik, Report No. 98-2. Technische Universität Berlin. Results of the Colloquium in Berlin, june, 26.–27. 1997. http://ki.tu-berlin.de/~sppraum/juni-paper.ps.
Thompson, S. (1991). Type Theory and Functional Programming. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison Wesley.
Vorwerg, C. (1997). Kategorisierung von Richtungsrelationen. In E. van der Meer et al. (Ed.), Experimentelle Psychologie. 39. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), HU Berlin, 24.–27.3.97, Lengerich. Pabst Science Publishers.
Vorwerg, C. and G. Rickheit (1998). Typicality effects in the Categorization of Spatial Relations. This volume.
Waltz, D. and L. Boggess (1979). Visual analog representations for natural language understanding. In Proc. of the 6th IJCAI, S. 926–934.
Werner, S., B. Krieg-Brückner, H. A. Mallot, K. Schweizer, and C. Freksa (1997). Spatial cognition: the role of landmark, route, and survey knowledge in human and robots. In Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Informatik, LNCS.
Wiebrock, S., C. Gips, U. Schmid, and F. Wysotzki (1998). SPACE/0 — Documentation of a Program for Spatial Inference. In preparation.
Wysotzki, F., U. Schmid, and E. Heymann (1997). Modellierung räumlicher Inferenzen durch Graphen mit symbolischen und numerischen Constraints. In C. Umbach, M. Grabski, and R. Hörnig (Hrsg.), Perspektive in Sprache und Raum. Deutscher Universitätsverlag, Wiesbaden.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Claus, B. et al. (1998). Reference Frames for Spatial Inference in Text Understanding. In: Freksa, C., Habel, C., Wender, K.F. (eds) Spatial Cognition. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 1404. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-69342-4_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-69342-4_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-64603-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69342-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive