Cognitive Geography and Geographical Cognition

Instructor:

David M. Mark

Email: dmark@geog.buffalo.edu

This course will provide an overview of topics in spatial cognition and perception. Topics will include map perception, wayfinding and navigation, behavioral geography, and environmental 'perception'. We will also examine how human natural languages represent and express spatial concepts. Implications for applications such as vehicle navigation systems, and both database contents and user interfaces for geographic information systems will also be examined.

FACTS ABOUT THE COURSES

TIMETABLE: Geography 552/452 meets twice a week (Tu & Th), from 9:30 to 10:50 am.

CREDIT HOURS: .

GRADING: Two non-cumulative short-essay tests will each be worth 35 % of the grade, and a term paper will be worth 30 %.

Course Outline

• January 19 (Tu) 1. Introduction
• Discussion of course objectives and requirements.
• January 21 (Th) 2. What is "Cognitive Science"?
• A brief introduction to this field which combines the more computational and formal aspects of cognitive psychology and related behavioral sciences with the theoretical or explanatory side of artificial intelligence.

• January 26 (Tu) 3. The Role of Formal Models
• Why develop formal, mathematical models? Software Engineering, GIS, etc.
• January 28 (Th) 4. Experiential Realism and Metaphor
• Experiential and Formal Models of Geographic Space, by David M. Mark and Andrew U. Frank
• Lakoff, Johnson

• February 2 (Tu) 5. Cognition and Language
• Why language seems to matter. Talmy's "How Language Structures Space"; The Whorf Hypothesis. Alternative sources of information about thinking.
• February 4 (Th) 6. 'Mental Maps'
• Previous research in geography. Gould and White's book. Kuipers' work. Do 'mental maps' or 'cognitive maps' have to be 'map- like'? Tversky's 'cognitive collage.

• February 9 (Tu) 7. Behavioral Geography
• How economic and social/cultural geographers have included mental models of geographic space in the research. Golledge; others. Choice models. Hierarchical models of space.
• February 11 (Th) 8. Environmental 'Perception'
• A 'mis-named' sub-field of geography. Particularly has been concerned with hazards, how people think about natural hazards and react to them.

• February 16 (Tu) 9. Navigation and Wayfinding
• February 18 (Th) (D. Mark at workshop in Santa Barbara)

• February 23 (Tu) 10. Typologies of Spatial Knowledge
• Freundschuh's typology. Related ideas
• February 25 (Th) 11. Scale: Kinds of Spaces
• 'Zubin spaces'; Montello's model

• March 2 (Tu) TEST #1
• March 4 (Th) 12. Research Methods: Computational Models, Artificial Intelligence

• March 9 & 11 Spring break, no classes

• March 16 (Tu) 13. Research Methods: Human subjects
• March 16 (Th) 14. Spatial Knowledge Acquisition

• March 23 & 25 No lectures, AAG meeting

• March 30 (Tu) 15. How Language Structures Space
• April 1 (Th) 16. Spatial Categories: Entity Types and Feature Codes
• Smith, B., and Mark, D. M., 1998. Ontology and Geographic KindsProceedings, Eighth International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, Vancouver, British Columbia.
• Paper on geographic kinds, submitted to COSIT'99

• April 6 (Tu) 17. Spatial Relations: Introduction
• April 8 (Th) 18. Spatial Relations: Topological Relations
• the 9-Intersection and related models

• April 13 (Tu) 19. Spatial Relations: Distance and Direction
• quantitative (Peuquet) and qualitative (Frank)
• April 15 (Tu) 20. Human-Computer Interaction for GIS

• April 20 (Tu) 21. Cultural Difference
• April 22 (Th) 22. Current Research Issues

• April 27 (Tu) 23. Current Research Issues
• April 29 (Th) 24. TEST #2 (non-cumulative)

• May 3 (M) Last Day of Classes
• May 10 (M) Term Paper or research Project Due

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