Schwartz DL, Black JB
Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Cogn Psychol. 1996 Apr;30(2):154-219. doi: 10.1006/cogp.1996.0006.
We investigated whether people can use analog imagery to model the behavior of a simple mechanical interaction. Subjects saw a static computer display of two touching gears that had different diameters. Their task was to determine whether marks on each gear would meet if the gears rotated inward. This task added a problem of coordination to the typical analog rotation task in that the gears had a physical interdependency; the angular velocity of one gear depended on the angular velocity of the other gear. In the first experiment, we found the linear relationship between response time and angular disparity that indicates analog imagery. In the second experiment, we found that people can also solve the problem through a non-analog, visual comparison. We also found that people of varying spatial ability could switch between analog and non-analog solutions if instructed to do so. In the third experiment, we examined whether the elicitation of physical knowledge would influence solution strategies. To do so, we manipulated the visual realism of the gear display. Subjects who saw the most realistic gears coordinated their transformations by using the surfaces of the gears, as though they were relying on the friction connecting the surfaces. Subjects who saw more schematic displays relied on analytic strategies, such as comparing the ratios made by the angles and/or diameters of the two gears. To explain the relationship between spatial and physical knowledge found in the experiments, we constructed a computer simulation of what we call depictive modeling. In a depictive model, general spatial knowledge and context-sensitive physical knowledge have the same ontology. This is different from prior simulations in which a non-analog representation would be needed to coordinate the analog behaviors of physical objects. In our simulation, the inference that coordinates the gear motions emerges from the analog rotations themselves. We suggest that mental depictions create a bridge between imagery and mental model research by positing the referent as the primary conceptual entity.
我们研究了人们是否能够使用类比意象来模拟简单机械相互作用的行为。受试者观看了一个由两个直径不同的相互接触齿轮组成的静态计算机显示屏。他们的任务是确定如果齿轮向内旋转，每个齿轮上的标记是否会相遇。与典型的类比旋转任务相比，这个任务增加了一个协调问题，因为齿轮具有物理上的相互依赖性；一个齿轮的角速度取决于另一个齿轮的角速度。在第一个实验中，我们发现了响应时间与角度差异之间的线性关系，这表明存在类比意象。在第二个实验中，我们发现人们也可以通过非类比的视觉比较来解决这个问题。我们还发现，如果得到指示，不同空间能力的人可以在类比和非类比解决方案之间进行切换。在第三个实验中，我们研究了物理知识的激发是否会影响解决策略。为此，我们对齿轮显示的视觉真实感进行了操控。看到最逼真齿轮的受试者通过利用齿轮表面来协调他们的变换，就好像他们依赖于连接表面的摩擦力一样。看到更具示意性显示的受试者则依赖于分析策略，比如比较两个齿轮的角度和/或直径所形成的比率。为了解释实验中发现的空间知识与物理知识之间的关系，我们构建了一个我们称之为描绘性建模的计算机模拟。在一个描绘性模型中，一般空间知识和情境敏感的物理知识具有相同的本体论。这与之前的模拟不同，在之前的模拟中，需要一个非类比表示来协调物理对象的类比行为。在我们的模拟中，协调齿轮运动的推理来自于类比旋转本身。我们认为，心理描绘通过将所指对象设定为主要概念实体，在意象研究和心理模型研究之间架起了一座桥梁。
