Object Use and Object Location: The Effect of Function on Spatial Relations

Abstract

Abstract Spatial relations indicate the location of one object by specifying its position relative to a second object. Most theories of spatial relations assume that the identities of the objects and their relationship are irrelevant to this process. This chapter suggests that an important characteristic of the objects-their function-plays a critical role in constraining the use of spatial relations. Research is reviewed that demonstrates an influence of function on the preferences for using reference frames to define spatial relations and on the designation of a region as the most acceptable use of the spatial relation. Such functional influence has implications for the interface between conceptual and spatial representations. One possibility is that functional properties represented within conceptual structure may generate a reference frame whose output is combined with the perceptually based reference frames that are represented in spatial representation, with such combination occurring within a spatial mental model.