Abstract
Our experience of the world seems to unfold seamlessly in a unitary 3D space. For this to be possible, the brain has to merge many disparate cognitive representations and sensory inputs. How does it do so? I discuss work on two key combination problems: coordinating multiple frames of reference (e.g. egocentric and allocentric), and coordinating multiple sensory signals (e.g. visual and proprioceptive). I focus on two populations whose spatial processing we can observe at a crucial stage of being configured and optimised: children, whose spatial abilities are still developing significantly, and naïve adults learning new spatial skills, such as sensing distance using auditory cues. The work uses a model-based approach to compare participants’ behaviour with the predictions of alternative information processing models. This lets us see when and how—during development, and with experience—the perceptual-cognitive computations underpinning our experiences in space change. I discuss progress on understanding the limits of effective spatial computation for perception and action, and how lessons from the developing spatial cognitive system can inform approaches to augmenting human abilities with new sensory signals provided by technology.
Highlights
Coordinating spatial frames of referenceOur experience of the world seems to unfold seamlessly in a unitary 3D space
Beginning in 2006, our studies addressed the question when and how multiple reference frames are coordinated in development
Our understanding of development in these domains has been improved by adoption of a model-based approach, which, for example, compares performance with the predictions for an ideal (Bayesian) decision-maker
Summary
Coordinating spatial frames of referenceOur experience of the world seems to unfold seamlessly in a unitary 3D space. This indicates that issues with development of spatial recall in earlier tasks (e.g. Nardini et al 2006) did reveal an immaturity in selecting the correct representation, but that there are fundamental immaturities in combining multiple valid signals efficiently when these are available.
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