Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space

Transcription

1 Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space

2 NATO ASI Series Advanced Science Institutes Series A Series presenting the results of activities sponsored by the NATO Science Committee, which aims at the dissemination of advanced scientific and technological knowledge, with a view to strengthening links between scientific communities. The Series is published by an international board of publishers in conjunction with the NATO Scientific Affairs Division A Lne Sciences B PhYSics C Mathematical and Physical Sciences D Behavioural and Social Sciences E Applied Sciences F Computer and Systems Sciences G Ecological Sciences H Cell Biology I Global Environmental Change Plenum Publishing Corporation London and New York Kluwer Academic Publishers Dordrecht, Boston and London Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, London, Paris and Tokyo NATO-PCe-DATA BASE The electronic index to the NATO ASI Series provides full bibliographical references (with keywords and/or abstracts) to more than contributions from international scientists published in all sections of the NATO ASI Series. Access to the NATO-PCO-DATA BASE is possible in two ways: - via online FILE 128 (NATO-PCO-DATA BASE) hosted by ESRIN, Via Galileo Galilei, Frascati, Italy. - via CD-ROM "NATO-PCO-DATA BASE" with user-friendly retrieval software in English, French and German ( WTV GmbH and DATAWARE Technologies Inc. 1989). The CD-ROM can be ordered through any member of the Board of Publishers or through NATO-PCO, Overijse, Belgium. Series D: Behavioural and Social Sciences - Vol. 63

3 Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographie Spaee edited by David M. Mark National. Center for Geographie Information and Analysis, Department of Geography, State University of New Vork at Buffalo, Buffalo, New Vork, U.S. " and Andrew U. Frank National Center for Geographie Information and Analysis, Department of Surveying Engineering. University of Maine, Orono, Maine, U.S.A. L. " Springer Science+Business Media, B.V.

4 Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space Las Navas dei Marques, Spain July 6-20, 1990 ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1991 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1991 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.

5 Table of Contents Preface Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space: An Introduction Section 1: Geographic Space Geographic Space as a Set of Concrete Geographical Entities. Joan Nunes Some Notes on Geographic Infonnation Systems: The Relationship Between their Practical Application and their Theoretical Evolution. Irene Campari A Hand-In-Glove Paradigm for Geography. Allen K. Philbrick 45 Section 2: Cultural Influences on the Conceptualization of Geographic Space ''Through the Door": A View of Space from an Anthropological Perspective. Maria Catedra Culture as Input and Output of the Cognitive-Linguistic Processes. E. M. Bjorklund Dialogic and Argumentative Structures of Bumper Stickers. D.A. Kas 71 Section 3: Wayfinding and Spatial Cognition The Development of the Abilities Required to Understand Spatial Representations. Mark Blades Making Sense of Human Wayfinding: Review of Cognitive and Linguistic Knowledge for Personal Navigation with a New Research Direction. Myke Gluck Wayfinding Theory and Research: The Need for a New Approach. Mark Blades The Effect of the Pattern of the Environment on Spatial Knowledge Acquisition. Scott M. Freundschuh Methods for Measuring Spatial Cognition. Thomas A. Gentry and James A. Wakefield, Jr Path Finding in Free Space USing Sinusoidal Transfonns: III. Ian Pratt 219

6 vi Table of Contents (continued) Section 4: Cartographic Perspectives 4.1 Mapping as Language or Semiotic System: Review and Comment. C. Grant Head 4.2 Plan Information and its Retrieval in Map Interpretation: The View from Semiotics. Hansgeorg Schlichtmann 4.3 An Approach to Map!fext Interrelationships. Dalia Varanka 4.4 Spatial Knowledge for Image Understanding. Geoffrey Edwards Section 5: Formal Treatment of Space in Mathematics The Mathematical Modeling of Spatial and Non-Spatial Information in Geographic Information Systems. John R. Hening Map Algebra as a Spatial Language. Kelly K.L. Chan and C. Dana Tomlin Qualitative Spatial Reasoning. Christian Freksa Relative Representation of Spatial Knowledge: The 2-D Case. Daniel Hem4ndez Matching Representations of Geographic Locations. Matthew McGranaghan The Role of Modal Logics in the Description of a Geographical Information System. Michael F. Worboys 403 Section 6: User Interfaces and Human-Computer Interaction 6.1 A Formalization of Metaphors and Image-Schemas in User Interfaces. Werner Kuhn and Andrew U. Frank 6.2 Elicitation of Spatial Language to Support Cross-Cultural Geographic Information Systems. Michael D. Gould 6.3 UGIX: A Layer Based Model For A GIS User Interface. J. F. Raper and M. S. Bundock 6.4 Deficiencies of SQL as a GIS Query Language. Max J. Egenhofer 6.5 The Role of the User in Generalization within Geographic Information Systems. Elsa Maria Jollo 6.6 Virtual Worlds, Inside and Out Robert Jacobson rJ7 Appendix: NATO Advanced Study Institute Participants 515

7 PREFACE This book contains twenty-eight papers by participants in the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on "Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space," held in Las Navas del Maxques, Spain, July 8-20, The NATO ASI marked a stage in a two-year research project at the U. S. National Center for Geographic Infonnation and Analysis (NCOIA). In 1987, the U. S. National Science Foundation issued a solicitation for proposals to establish the NCGIA-and one element of that solicitation was a call for research on a "fundamental theory of spatial relations". We felt that such a fundamental theory could be searched for in mathematics (geometry, topology) or in cognitive science, but that a simultaneous search in these two seemingly disparate research areas might produce novel results. Thus, as part of the NCGIA proposal from a consortium consisting of the University of California at Santa Barbara, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and the University of Maine, we proposed that the second major Research Initiative (two year, multidisciplinary research project) of the NCOIA would address these issues, and would be called "Languages of Spatial Relations" The grant to establish the NCOIA was awarded to our consortium late in The project included three meetings, each involving geographers, mathematicians, computer scientists, cognitive scientists, and others. The llrst was held in Buffalo, New York, in June 1988, before the NCGIA grant was awarded (see Mark, 1988). The second was the NCOIA "Specialist Meeting" held in Santa Barbara, California, in January 1989 (see Mark et al., 1989, and Mark, 1989). And the third was the NATO ASI which produced this book. The second and third meetings built on the results of the earlier ones, as a core group of participants was invited back. This facilitated the breaking of the barriers to interdisciplinary work that are often erected by differing terminologies, philosophies, and approaches. Through these meetings and the research activities between them, we have gained a great deal of personal insight into the topic of human conceptualization of space, and the influence of that on technology. And we believe that other participants in the Initiative have been similarly enriched. It was an enormous pleasure to share our ideas on a theory of geographic space with the participants in the workshop; we thank all the participants for their openness, and for their contributions to the good humor and camaraderie that developed at the Castillo-Palacio "Magalia" during the two weeks of the workshop. The fact that the village of Las Navas del Marques was having its annual fiesta during our first week there, with events ranging from bull fights to bumper cars, contributed substantially to the atmosphere. Maria C:itedra, of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, acted as the local organizer and discovered the Castillo-Palacio "Magalia" in Las Navas del Marques; she participated in the organizing committee and contributed to the smooth preparation and operation of the workshop. Amilcar Semadas and Hans Dieter Ehrich also were members of the organizing committee, but unfortunately were unable to attend the ASI. We are grateful to the Scientific Affairs Division of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Programme Director L. V. da Cunha, for the grant that made the ASI and this book possible. The NCOIA (supported by U. S. National Science Foundation grant SES , Geography and Regional Science program) and its staff at Buffalo and Maine contributed in numerous ways to the organization of this workshop, and provided travel support for some participants. NSF also vii

8 viii supported the travel to the ASI of five young U. S. scholars through the Division of Research Career Development. Roberta Balstad Miller encouraged us at various stages along the way. Scott Freundschuh, Max Egenhofer, and Werner Kuhn assisted with various aspects of the organization of the meeting, and Robert Scicogna provided some editorial assistance. Michael Gould contributed countless hours to the editing and reformatting of the papers in this book, and Connie Holoman assisted with the final manuscript production. Last but certainly not least, we must thank the Spanish Ministerio de Cultura, Instituto Nacional del las Artes Escenicas y de la Musica that operates "Magalia" as a conference center, and the Castillo's director Mario Garcia Bardaji, the bartender Jesus, and the rest of the staff, who arranged the meeting rooms and kept us happy with good food and drink, creating an atmosphere of well-being that permits intense intellectual work:. This book is dedicated to the memory of David S. Simonett, founding Director of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis. We learned immensely from him, and miss him deeply. David M. Mark: and Andrew U. Frank Buffalo, New York: (USA) and Orono, Maine (USA), August 1991 References: Mark:, D. M., 1988, 'Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space'. Report on a Workshop. Santa Barbara, California: National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis. Mark:, D. M., 1989, 'Languages of Spatial Relations: Researchable questions and NCGIA research agenda: Santa Barbara, California: National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, Report 89-2A. Mark:, D. M., Frank, A. U., Egenhofer, M. J., Freundschuh, S. M., McGranaghan, M., and White, R. M., 1989, 'Languages of spatial relations: Initiative two specialist meeting report'. Santa Barbara, California: National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, Report 89-2.