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M J Sholl

Publications and source records attributed to M J Sholl.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Object-array structure, frames of reference, and retrieval of spatial knowledge.

Experiments are reported that assessed the ability of people, without vision, to locate the positions of objects from imagined points of observation that are related to their actual position by rotational or translational components. Theoretical issues addressed were whether spatial relations stored in an object-to-object system are directly retrieved or whether retrieval is mediated by a body-centered coordinate system, and whether body-centered access involves a process of imaging updating of self-position. The results, with those of Rieser (1989), indicate that in the case of regularly structured object arrays, interobject relations are directly retrieved for the translation task, but for the rotation task, retrieval occurs by means of a body-centered coordinate system, requiring imagined body rotation. For irregularly structured arrays, access of interobject spatial structure occurs by means of a body-centered coordinate system for both translation and rotation tasks, requiring imagined body translation or rotation. Array regularity affected retrieval of spatial structure in terms of global shape of interobject relations and local object position within global shape.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

The relation between horizontality and rod-and-frame and vestibular navigational performance.

Sex differences on Piaget's water-level (horizontality) test are well established but poorly understood. In this article, correlates of female horizontality performance are systematically explored. Across the five experiments reported, it was found that female subjects who failed the water-level test (poor-horizontality female subjects) were selectively impaired on tasks that required processing information from the otolith organs. In Experiment 1, poor-horizontality female subjects were found to be impaired relative to good-horizontality subjects on the rod-and-frame test. In Experiment 2, a relation was found between female horizontality performance and the ability to process vestibular information in a passive transport task. Experiment 3 ruled out poor spatial updating as a mediating factor in this relation. The results of Experiments 4 and 5 indicated that poor-horizontality female subjects perform randomly on vestibular navigation because they cannot judge linear displacement under conditions of passive transport. The linear transport task is similar to the rod-and-frame task in that both require the central processing of otolith signals. It is proposed that one way to solve the water-level test is to imagine, on the basis of prior perceptual experiences, what the water level looks like inside tilted containers. Because of complex visual-otolith interactions, poor-horizontality female subjects may experience these events differently than good-horizontality subjects.

Cognition↗
PubMed1987

Cognitive maps as orienting schemata.

A "point-to-unseen-targets" task was used to test two theories about the nature of cognitive mapping. The hypothesis that a cognitive map is like a "picture in the head" predicts that (a) the cognitive map should have a preferred orientation and (b) all coded locations should be equally available. These predictions were confirmed in Experiments 1 and 3 when targets were cities in the northeastern United States and learning was from a map. The theory that a cognitive map is an orienting schema predicts that the cognitive map should have no preferred orientation and that targets in front of the body should be localized faster than targets behind the body. These predictions were confirmed in Experiments 1 and 2 when targets were local landmarks that had been learned via direct experience. In Experiment 3, when cities in the Northeast were targets and geographical knowledge had been acquired, in part, by traveling in the Northeast, the observed latency profiles were not as predicted by either theory of cognitive mapping. The results suggest that orienting schemata direct orientation with respect to local environments, but that orientation with respect to large geographical regions is supported by a different type of cognitive structure.

Attention↗
PubMed1986

Effect of referent object familiarity on verbal learning in the sighted and the blind.

In a series of paired-associate tasks we investigate why some highly concrete nouns are easier to remember than other highly concrete nouns, even when such word attributes as imagery value are held constant. In Experiment 1 both the congenitally blind and the sighted remembered nouns with referents highly familiar to the blind better than nouns with referents of low familiarity to the blind. Although this effect was anticipated for the blind, it was unexpected for the sighted because the referents of low familiarity to the blind have been visually experienced by the sighted and are as easy for the sighted to image as the referents highly familiar to the blind. Experiments 2 through 5 explore why the extent to which the blind are familiar with an object should predict verbal learning for the sighted. As it turned out, referents that were familiar to the blind were also familiar to the sighted. After ruling out various alternative explanations we were able to conclude that it is the extent of perceptual experience with a noun's referent, irrespective of the modality through which the experience is acquired, that determines ease of verbal learning. Any theory that accounts for the concrete-noun effect must also be able to account for the effect of referent familiarity, and our results are discussed within this context.

Adult↗