Broadening the Study of Spatial Intelligence Mary Hegarty University of California, Santa Barbara
Terminology Spatial Cognition Spatial Thinking Spatial Intelligence
What is Spatial “Thinking”? Spatial Intelligence as Adaptive Spatial Thinking • Thinking about space: Thinking about spatial processes and structures at the scale of objects. • Thinking in space: Thinking about spatial processes and structures at the scale of environments • Thinking with space: Using spatial representations of non- spatial entities
Spatial Processes and Structures Mechanical Reasoning Chemistry Problem Solving Please indicate the stereochemical relationship between these two molecules. CH 3 Br Br H Br H H CH 3 H Br Geological Inference Imagining Cross Sections
Using Spatial Representations Spatial Entities Non-Spatial Entities a b c e d h g f i
How Do Psychologists Study Spatial Thinking?
Laboratory Studies Mental Rotation Shepard & Metzler, 1971
Individual Differences (Spatial Abilities) Mental Rotation Visualization of Views Embedded Figures
Spatial thinking “in the Wild” (Discipline Diving) Medicine Mechanics Chemistry Meteorology Geology Navigation
What Have we Learned from these Approaches?
Laboratory Studies • Mental Rotation Analog Mental Processes • Piecemeal vs holistic • Motor Interference • Parietal (sometimes premotor) activation Limitation : Primary focus on one task. A single rigid transformation
Individual Differences Studies • Spatial abilities separable from verbal, reasoning ability • Different spatial abilities (e.g., spatial perception vs. spatial visualization etc) • Predict success in STEM education and careers • Sex differences (especially mental rotation) • Performance improves with practice, training Limitation: Focused on small number of tests, development of tests not theoretically motivated
Insights from Examining Spatial Cognition “in the Wild” • Small-Scale vs. Large Scale • Mental Simulation vs. Analytic Thinking • Internal vs. External Representations
Distinction 1: Small-Scale vs. Large Scale • Small-Scale Spatial Ability • Large-Scale Spatial Ability – Learning the layout of a new environment from • direct experience (walking through the environment), • a video • a virtual environment
Correlations Embedded Mental Figures Rotation Learning from Direct Experience: Direction .30 .21 Distance .27 .16 Map .20 .11 Learning from Video Direction .45 .40 Distance .22 .08 Map .40 .24 Learning from VE Direction .45 .33 Distance .29 .17 Map .29 .22 Hegarty, Montello, Richardson, Ishikawa & Lovelace, 2006
After learning from Direct Experience Pointing .93* .48* .72* Distance Estimation Mental Rotation Test Learning .65* .50* .73* from Direct Map Drawing Spatial Embedded. Figures Test Experience Ability .53* Spatial Working Memory .39* (Arrow Span) After learning from .30* A Video Pointing .77* .87* Self-Reported Distance Estimation .43* Sense of .94* Santa Barbara Sense of Direction Direction Scale .18* Map Drawing .54* Learning from Visual Media After learning from .69* A Virtual Environment Pointing .34* Distance Estimation .65* Map Drawing Hegarty, Montello, Richardson, Ishikawa & Lovelace, 2006
Spatial Ability and Science Disciplines • Do STEM disciplines depend on both large- scale and small-scale spatial abilities? • Do all STEM disciplines depend equally on spatial abilities? • Preliminary Study: Self reports of scientists Hegarty, Crookes, Dara-Abrams & Shipley, 2010
Small-Scale Spatial Ability Hegarty, Crookes, Dara-Abrams & Shipley, 2010
Large-Scale Spatial Ability Hegarty, Crookes, Dara-Abrams & Shipley, 2010
Summary • Large and small scale spatial abilities partially dissociated • Sciences may not depend equally on small and large-scale spatial abilities • Self-report data is suggestive but need to follow up with more objective testing
Distinction 2 Visualization vs. Analytic Thinking Visualization: Mental Images, Analog transformations, mental simulation Analytic Thinking: Task decomposition, mathematical/propositional representations, rule- based reasoning Not either or! Collaborative processes
Mechanical Reasoning Inferring Rigid Transformations of Multiple, Interconnected Objects When the rope is pulled, in what direction will the lower pulley turn?
Not pure visualization (simulation)! Also task decomposition The middle pulley The lower pulley The upper pulley turns turns counterclockwise turns clockwise counterclockwise 1 2 1 1 3 2 4 3 5
Interplay between visualization and rule-based reasoning If the large gear turns clockwise, Which direction will Gear A turn? Initial Strategy: Mental Simulation Infer Rule: “every other gear turns the same way” Schwartz & Black, 1996
Interplay also found in • Inferring cross sections • Spatial ability tests Cl H • Stereochemistry OH H 3 C H Cl HO CH 3
Questions • What about imagining non-rigid transformations of objects? • What are the limits of visualization/mental simulation? • When does analytic thinking take over? • How much emphasis should we put on visualization vs analytic thinking in education?
Distinction 3 Internal vs. External Representations • Internal: – Mental images, propositional representations • External: – Diagrams, graphs, maps, models, interactive computer visualizations
Metarepresentational Competence (diSessa, 2004) Ability to: - Learn to use representations with minimal instruction - Choose representations, e.g., critique and compare the adequacy of representations and judge their suitability for different tasks - Design representations
Using Representations Task: Draw the Cross section from the Use of Interactive Perspective of the Arrow Visualization Keehner, Hegarty, Cohen, Khooshabeh & Montello (2008)
Use of External Visualization Test Page View Arrow View
Access of Arrow View 10 0.7 Proportion correct (duct relations) 0.6 8 0.5 6 0.4 0.3 4 0.2 0.1 2 Std. Dev = .32 0 Mean = .40 N = 30.00 Low-access participants High-access participants 0 0.00 .13 .25 .38 .50 .63 .75 .88 Proportion of trials where Arrow View was accessed
Representation Translation in Chemistry H H H CH 3 H H Stull, Hegarty, Dixon & Stieff, 2012
Number of Trials on Which Participants Used the Model
Models vs. No Models No Models Received Models (Max = 18) F (2,44) = 50.11, p < .001*
Meta-representational Competence: Using Representations • Not everyone discovers how to use the visualization productively without instruction • Performance related to access of the most informative view • Independent of spatial ability
Meta-representational Competence Choosing Representations • Interactive visualizations allow people to chose or create the representations that they will use to accomplish a task • Effectiveness of visual displays is relative to the task to be performed (e.g., Bertin, 1983; Cheng, 2002; Gattis & Holyoak, 1996; Larkin & Simon, 1987; Shah, Mayer & Hegarty, 1999) • Do people choose the best external representations for their task? ( Hegarty & Smallman & Stull, 2012)
Choosing Representations • Novices and experts perform simple read- off and comparison tasks with maps with different complexity • Express their intuitions about display effectiveness by choosing the display they would use to perform a task
Results: • About third of novices and experts prefered realistic over non-realistic maps • Some experts also prefer maps with additional meteorological variables • However, both realism and complexity slowed performance for both experts and novices 7.5 7 Response time (sec) 6.5 Pressure 6 Wind 5.5 Temperature 5 4.5 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 Without Realism With Realism Number of Displayed Variables
Conclusions and Questions • People do not always discover how to use an external visualization productively • People make poor representation choices • Can we teach people to use and critique external representations • What is the best way to do this?
Spatial Thinking in the Wild • Thinking about spatial processes and structures – Flexible interaction between mental simulation and analytic thinking • External representations can enhance cognition, but also depend on cognition for their use – Not as intuitive as we think! • Spatial center as an opportunity to discover how people think spatially in different disciplines, and hopefully to enhance spatial thinking across the discipleins.
Thank you!
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