Mental Space Research Articles

Fictive Deixis, Direct Discourse, and Viewpoint Networks

This paper proposes a renewed and more textured understanding of the relation between deixis and direct discourse, grounded in a broader range of genres and reflecting contemporary multimodal usage. I re-consider the phenomena covered by the concept of deixis in connection to the speech situation, and, by extension, to the category of Direct Discourse, in its various functions. I propose an understanding of Direct Discourse as a construction which is a correlate of Deictic Ground. Relying on Mental Spaces Theory and the apparatus it makes available for a close analysis of viewpoint networks, I analyze examples from a range of discourse genres - textual, visual and multimodal, such as literature, political campaigns, internet memes and storefront signs. These discourse contexts use Direct Discourse Constructions but usually lack a fully profiled Deictic Ground. I propose that in such cases the Deictic Ground is not a pre-existing conceptual structure, but rather is set up ad hoc to construe non-standard uses of Direct Discourse–I refer to such construals as Fictive Deictic Grounds. In that context, I propose a re-consideration of the concept of Direct Discourse, to explain its tight correlation with the concept of deixis. I also argue for a treatment of Deictic Ground as a composite structure, which may not be fully profiled in each case, while participating in the construction of viewpoint configurations.

Deixis as a category of journalist’s mental space in reportage message

This article systematically analyzes the cognitive structure of discursive deixis. The category of deixis is interpreted in terms of structuring actual events in reportage messages and texts, an impartial representation of objective reality as an epistemological entity reproduced and changed by the journalist. Deixis is interpreted as a pragmatic category that is structured around the corresponding ideal cognitive model, measured on the prototypical scale, since it is implemented based on nuclear and peripheral means of expression. It is argued that deictic means reproduce specific mental spaces in reportage texts, while the metaphorical generating basis for discursive deixis is spatial deixis. The functioning of discursive deixis is based on the metaphorical awareness of the reportage text as an epistemological entity unfolding in space and time. In the reportage narration, the journalist shifts the deictic center from the situation in objective reality to the textual embodiment of the image of himself / herself. In this case, the category of locativity is represented as a cognitive structure that captures the spatio-temporal characteristics of an actual event through the prism of journalistic perception. Based on these characteristics, the reader localizes this event, interprets it in terms of the general event canvas unfolding in objective reality. In the reportage text, the deictic center is not static: the detail of the actual event is carried out, among other things, by means of shifts in this center. Current events are reproduced by the journalist taking into account specific spatial and temporal parameters. These events are often considered against the background of previous or subsequent (hypothetical) eventfulness, and therefore shifts in the original deictic center of the reportage text are a natural phenomenon.

TERMS OF THE MENTAL LEXICON IN THE PROFESSIONAL AVIATION LANGUAGE TRANSLATORS

The present paper establishes the possibility of presenting the mental lexicon of a technical translator in the form of a classification frame that structures the terminological composition of scientific and technical language in the translation consciousness during the cognition of aviation reality. It is stated that the terms, which are the main means of fixation, accumulation and transfer of scientific knowledge, become the object of cognitive activity of the translator, who performs cognitive work on their accumulation and structuring in their own mental space to operate them during translation, which emphasizes the heuristic nature translation activities. At the same time, the linguistic component of the mental lexicon allows us to consider its structure, starting from the language itself. The paper attempts to present a mental lexicon within the framework of scientific and technical translation in the form of a set of frames that arrange the terminological structure of language in the mind of the translator as they learn the aviation reality. It is noted that in this case the main task is to show the possibilities of the frame in terms of accumulating and structuring the verbal knowledge about a particular aviation phenomenon or process, in English and Ukrainian with simultaneous identification of interlanguage equivalents.

Spatiotemporal Analysis by Deep Learning of Gait Signatures From Floor Sensors

The recognition of gait pattern variation is of high importance to various industrial and commercial applications, including security, sport, virtual reality, gaming, robotics, medical rehabilitation, mental illness diagnosis, space exploration, and others. The purpose of this paper is to study the nature of gait variability in more detail, by identifying gait intervals responsible for gait pattern variations in individuals, as well as between individuals, using cognitive demanding tasks. This work uses deep learning methods for sensor fusion of 116 plastic optical fiber (POF) distributed sensors for gait recognition. The floor sensor system captures spatiotemporal samples due to varying ground reaction force (GRF) in multiples of up to 4 uninterrupted steps on a continuous 2×1 m area. We demonstrate classifications of gait signatures, achieving up to 100% F1-score with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), in the context of gait recognition of 21 subjects, with imposters and clients. Classifications under cognitive load, induced by 4 different dual tasks, manifested lower F1-scores. Layer-Wise Relevance Propagation (LRP) methods are employed to decompose a trained neural network prediction to relevant standard events in the gait cycle, by generating a “heat map” over the input used for classification. This allows valuable insight into which parts of the gait spatiotemporal signal have the heaviest influence on the gait classification and consequently, which gait events, such as heel strike or toe-off, are mostly affected by cognitive load.

Using Biometric Tools to Investigate How Students Cognitively Process the Structure of Prostaglandin H 2 Synthase

Protein representations such as those found in the Protein Data Bank repository are important for any practicing biochemist to be able to use, interpret, and manipulate; skills commonly referred to as visual literacy in biochemistry. As such, any student enrolled in a biochemistry course should be trained in these skills. However, little is known as to how students navigate these 3-dimensional representations and how to best teach these skills to biochemistry students, especially using virtual 3D modeling software. An additional barrier to learning these skills are that they are associated with the students’ spatial ability. The proposed study uses biometric tools such as eye tracking and electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate how biochemistry students cognitively process and use modeling software UCSF Chimera to explore the structure of Prostaglandin H2 Synthase. Nine biochemistry students were sampled at a metropolitan Midwestern campus in fall 2018 while completing the activity. During the activity, the students’ cognitive processing was captured using EEG while gaze patterns and areas of fixation were captured by Tobii Glasses 2. Additionally, each student completed a series of spatial ability assessments (Hidden Figures Test and Purdue Visualizations of Rotations Test) to capture their level of ability to think visually. This presentation will answer the following research questions: 1) Which combination of electrode channels suggests the most appropriate measurement of cognitive load? 2) How does the cognitive load measurement change when students analyze a quaternary structure versus a tertiary structure of the same protein? and 3) How can we optimize the cognitive load of a 3D virtual modeling activity? The answers to these questions will be used to improve the activity for replication in following years in hopes of decreasing the impact of extraneous factors on cognition and providing the mental space needed for learning the skills associated with visual literacy in biochemistry.

Are Rank Orders Mentally Represented by Spatial Arrays?

The present contribution argues that transitive reasoning, as exemplified in paradigms of linear order construction in mental space, is associated with spatial effects. Starting from robust findings from the early 70s, research so far has widely discussed the symbolic distance effect (SDE). This effect shows that after studying pairs of relations, e.g., “A > B,” “B > C,” and “D > E,” participants are more correct, and faster in correct responding, the wider the “distance” between two elements within the chain A > B > C > D > E. The SDE has often been given spatial interpretations, but alternatively, non-spatial models of the effect are also viable on the empirical basis so far, which means the question about spatial contributions to the construction of analog representations of rank orders is still open. We suggest here that laterality effects can add the necessary additional information to support the idea of spatial processes. We introduce anchoring effects in terms of showing response advantages for congruent versus incongruent pairings of presentation location on a screen on the one hand, and the hypothetical spatial arrangement of the order in mental space, on the other hand. We report pertinent findings and discuss anchoring paradigms with respect to their internal validity as well as their being rooted in basic mechanisms of trained reading/writing direction.

Spatial routinization and a ‘secure base’ in displacement processes: Understanding place attachment through the security-exploratory cycle and urban ontological security frameworks

Place attachment theory derives many insights from disruptions to place attachment, such as displacement, migration and changing landscapes. Development-induced displacement – a specific involuntary disruption to place attachment - invites a particular examination. This paper examines a lengthy process of development-induce displacement in Bangalore, India and draws new insights on place attachment as a structure and a process. The loss of routine and the sense of time-space continuity, in addition to the severe impoverishment that most displaced people encounter, are unpacked with security-exploratory model from interpersonal attachment theory and with the framework of urban ontological security. We argue that spatial routinization encapsulates the social and spatial attributes of continuity and forms the secure base needed to explore the world. Thus, positive and strong place attachment is established through the process of routinization (i.e., a secure base) that enables physical and mental space for exploration. Our findings strengthen the theoretical links between attachment and place attachment theories. Moreover, this study positions the act of displacement not only as obscuring material and citizenship rights of the displaced but also as depriving basic sense of humaneness.

Mental Spaces of Marginalization and Resistance in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings A Discourse-Historical Approach

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) is the first of seven autobiographical books by the American author Maya Angelou. The book recounts Angelou’s childhood and adolescence from age 3 through 16. She narrates her unsettled and traumatic childhood through the themes of intimidation, racism, rape, displacement and family. Her adolescence is narrated through themes of empowerment and resistance. The present study adopts a discourse historical approach (DHA) which is primarily concerned with the integration of the social and political backgrounds of the discursive events. Besides, DHA is highly relevant to discourse studies of inequality and national identity. Its analytical categories reveal the discursive construction of 'self' and 'other' in discourse either positively or negatively (Reisigl & Wodak, 2001). The paper incorporates the five discursive strategies with Fauconnier's (1985, 1997) Mental Space Theory (MST) which represents the study's cognitive aspect. Mental spaces help illustrate the speakers reality as opposed to their wishes, attitudes and attributes. The study aims to examine how strategies of marginalization and resistance are discursively represented. It also seeks to demonstrate the effect of those strategies on the construction of Angelou’s identity by revealing their conceptual structure. Finally, the study reveals the power imbalance in relationships by examining the notion of marginalization through which intimidation and racism are discursively represented. Confronting these techniques, the analyses shed light on Angelou’s discourse of resistance.

The Mythologeme “Coronavirus” in the Modern Mass Media News in Europe and Asia

The article analyzes the impact of nominations in the media discourse on the coronavirus on the public consciousness of Europe and Asia. The authors consider the historical, sociological, and psycholinguistic aspects of the use of names in texts about the coronavirus, identify the features of the impact of such texts on the reader and determine the target orientation of such texts. Hypothesis: names in news reports about coronavirus in modern news discourse in conditions of quarantine and self-isolation act as triggers that unite different strata of society, creating a hologram of a single mental space, actualizing archetypal images of the confrontation between Good and Evil. Particular attention is paid to the connection between ethno-confessional myths and ideas about the coronavirus in the public consciousness, their involvement in information wars. The methodology for the analysis of names is standard; it includes sociolinguistic, structural, and semantic analysis, evaluative, motivational, target analysis, etc. The study helps to understand linguistic universals in the transmission of psycho-emotional moods in a stressful situation in a pandemic. The article will be of interest to specialists in the field of linguistics, sociology, political science, psychology

Piskan ställningen

The courtyard, laundry room, and areas for beating carpets are collective facilities in the private sphere of the home. In Stockholm you can find carpet hangers in connection to many apartment blocks even though they are very seldom used nowadays. The act of whipping carpets is an act that aims to get rid of the dirt – the remnants of life. Cleaning is a repetitive work, where something needs to be done over and over again without it producing something new. The project Piskan ställningen consists of an essay, sound pieces, and sketches in different materials and is divided into three parts; the one who beats, the beater itself, and that which constitutes a stand for the beating. The various associations to the carpet hanger and the carpet beater form the basis of the project that centres around questions concerning repetition and productivity, place and time, the boundary between the public and the domestic sphere, and how dangerous the pursuit of alleged purity, hygiene, science, and light can be. Through text, sound and images, personal and collective memories, and the object's associations regarding reproductive labour, city planning, violence, the welfare project, and childish games are intertwined. The material also contains other associations to control and power – with the whip as a means of threat and punishment, and an exploration of different forms of emptiness in relation to architecture, social structures, and mental space. Through a younger and an elderly woman's narrative voice, we follow an associative thought chain that interweaves the public, the domestic, and a bodily sphere. The setting is a society where she comes home from work to yet another form of monotonous routines, where cars get burned down, and tables are placed under vases, whilst someone has been digging a hole down in the city. Through sketches in different materials, I approach the carpet beater by exploring its shape. My attempts to repeat the knots lead to a series of variations on the memory of whips where mistakes constitute the basis of new forms. In the project repetition and variations in sound, text, and drawing becomes another way of approaching repetitive work

The weight of expectations

The weight of expectations

Seeking Selah.

To the Editor: There is a word that appears 71 times throughout the Book of Psalms in the Hebrew bible: selah (). Its etymology is enigmatic—to this day, its precise definition remains elusive to Judaic scholars. My preferred interpretation characterizes selah as a “holy pause.” 1 It is an invitation to suspend choral music, stop prayer recitation, and engage in a moment of silent reflection. Selah. A concept that feels in conflict with the foundations of my medical education. On tests and during rounds, I was trained to look ahead to the next physical exam maneuver, the next diagnostic test, the next step in management. For 4 years in medical school, I honed my ability to formulate schemas and differential diagnoses—and with it, my ability to dwell in the future rather than reflect in the present. But when I joined the COVID-19 wards in New York City as an early medical school graduate, I suspended this mindset. In the thick of the pandemic, there often was no “next.” There was only waiting: for patients to get better (or not); for the curve to flatten; for some form of reprieve. And, so, in my earliest days of doctoring, it was selah that I relied on most. There was the pause outside each patient’s door where, gowned and gloved, I carefully inventoried PPE. Selah. There was the quiet that came after twisting an oxygen knob, my eyes trained on the vitals monitor. Selah. And then there was the most wrenching selah of all: when I held the clunky hospital phone to my ear, waiting to deliver harrowing news to a patient’s loved one. With no “next” to rush me out of these moments, I lingered—I was more present. Though insulated by N95 masks and face shields, I connected better with patients, their families, and even my own emotional state. The mental space formerly occupied by to do lists and uncalled consults had been repurposed for deeper human connection. I long for a time when the hospital will feel as it did pre-pandemic—when the bustle of academic medicine will resume, rounds running late from chalk talks and journal clubs. But I also hope that even at our busiest, we will remember the lesson of this moment and set aside space for stillness. Selah.

Spatial processes in category assignment.

Investigates the hypothesis that spatial processes are involved in judgments on membership in a category. It is argued that membership versus nonmembership of an object or a concept, in a category, is spatially simulated in mental space by a minimal continuum with 2 levels, left for membership and right for nonmembership. In analogy to other embodied dimensions (e.g., time line or number line), the orientation of membership levels on the mental dimension is assumed to follow the acquired reading/writing schema, with procedural primacy implying dominance, hence leftward positioning of dominant elements. This rationale is tested in 7 experiments. A recognition memory paradigm (modified 2AFC paradigm, Experiment 1) revealed that participants were faster indicating the location of an old word on the screen when displayed left within a pair of words, indicating a spatial representation of category membership ("member" = left, "nonmember" = right). For category discrimination (Experiment 2) we found faster and more accurate performance when a target word is presented left as compared with right. This pattern is replicated in Experiments 4a and 4b, with different response alternatives. Discriminating categories in a stimulus-response compatibility paradigm (Experiment 3), participants were faster making correct responses with their left hand than with their right hand in target category trials. In contrast, no differences were found for distractor trials. Experiments 5a and 5b address the spatial bias in spontaneous sorting situations. Overall, this pattern of results across the 7 experiments provides evidence in support of a spatial simulation of category assignment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Cognitive aspects of Zhambyl Zhabaev’s poetry

In the article the work of Kazakh literature’s classic Zhambyl Zhabayev is considered. His poems are analyzed in terms of a cognitive approach, which is one of the new in modern literary study. Based on systematization of scientific works, devoted to this problem, in the article the essence, principles of this method are revealed. The author emphasizes the importance, productivity of the cognitive approach. The use of this method allowed, firstly, to more deeply reveal the psychology of the author, heroes, reader, their ideas about the surrounding reality; secondly, to understand the poet’s thinking mechanisms and their reflection at various levels of the poetics of works. In the article the ways of modeling of the lyrical hero’s inner world, peculiarities of his thinking, attitude towards the surrounding reality are described. The analysis of mental spaces, reflected in the poems of the poet. Based on a comparison of the works of Zh. Zhabaev and A. Kunanbaev, the features of the construction of his individually-authored picture of the world are revealed. The originality of his concept of being and personality is described. The system of images embodied in the works of Zhambyl Zhabayev is analyzed. The factors that influenced the poet’s worldview, his perception of the phenomena and events of reality, the peculiarities of the construction of mental spaces are revealed. On the example of studying the works of Zh. Zhabayev from the point of view of the cognitive approach, the effectiveness and prospects of this method in the study of artistic creativity, comprehension of the nature of verbal art, and the national identity of the writer are substantiated.

Korni i proyavleniya konfliktnosti v srednevekovoj Evrope

The article examines the nature of conflicts in medieval Western Europe. It is noted that the roots of Western European conflicts go back to the time of the Great migration of peoples. Ethno-cultural and Church-religious factors that directly or indirectly influenced the course and nature of conflicts are considered. Projects of secular and ecclesiastical authorities aimed at ousting conflicts from the political and mental space of Western Europe are presented; legal, ethno-cultural, moral and ethical problems that did not allow achieving success in the practical implementation of these projects are identified.

SYSTEM APPROACH TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN CONDITION OF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMY

Human behavior is the most common cause of project management failure. Behavioral economics is interdisciplinary in nature and allows you to identify the psychological basis for making a project manager decisions that lead to success or failure in projects. The personality of the project manager, project teams, and a special project environment continue to dominate the analysis of human behavior in project management. The article may be of interest to scientists and project management practitioners. The aim of the work is to study the principles of decision-making in project management and the influence of behavioral economics on them. The objectives of the article are to determine the impact of behavioral economics on project management as a system, to compare the methods of hard and soft systems approaches in planning and decision-making, to develop principles and sequence of actions for project integration. Methods. When writing the article, a behavioral approach, a systematic approach, decision-making methods, heuristic methods, a soft systemic approach, a hard systemic approach, a logical-structural approach, and integration methods were used. The results of the work are to harmonize the principles of PMBoK project management standards of the announced 7th edition, ISO 21500, ISO / IEC 15288 with the principles of the management economics approach. Providing system integration based on a soft systemic approach to management, allows to more fully take into account the human factor when making decisions and serve as a tool for implementing the principles of behavioral economics. A comparative analysis of the hard and soft systemic approaches is carried out and their main differences are identified. Effective integration requires organizational, administrative and behavioral skills in managing people. The principle of innovation, the principle of flexibility to change, the principle of combined compensation and the principle of combined value are the four principles of integration. Scientific novelty. The work further developed methodological approaches to substantiating the creation and further formation of a unique mental space for project activities, by ensuring the using of methods and approaches of behavioral economics. Practical significance. The results obtained are aimed at improving methodological approaches to decision-making in project activities based on ensuring the implementation of the principles of behavioral economics. Ensuring the principles and sequence of actions for the integration of the project is aimed at increasing the number of successfully implemented projects.

КОНСТРУИРОВАНИЕ ДЕТСТВА В РОССИИ КОНЦА XIX - НАЧАЛА XX ВВ.: ОТ ТЕОРИИ К ИЗУЧЕНИЮ ДИСКУРСИВНЫХ ПРАКТИК (НА ПРИМЕРЕ ДЕТСКОЙ ПЕРИОДИЧЕСКОЙ ПРЕССЫ ДЛЯ СРЕДНЕГО И СТАРШЕГО ВОЗРАСТА)

Aim: general analytical review of the design of childhood on the pages of periodicals for children and youth of the late XIX - early XX centuries. The work reveals the main theoretical aspects of researching the texts of children's magazines within the framework of discourse analysis, identifying and describing the main characteristics of discursive practices. In order to explicate the content of the image of childhood, we singled out and analyzed the representations reflected in journalistic articles in the genre of journalism. In pre-revolutionary Russia, the organization of discursive space in children's magazines played a huge role, since the content of magazines particularly influenced children's socialization through the organization of leisure, cognitive, and communicative activities and defined the child's mental space. As a result, various models of child design were identified that revealed the transformation of the child's image under the influence of the social and political environment of that time.

Incubating innovation in university settings: building entrepreneurial mindsets in the future generation of innovative emerging market leaders

PurposeOne of the most discernible initiatives of entrepreneurial universities constitutes the launch of innovation centers, where students and alumni can incubate their business ideas and collaborate on innovative projects with the purpose of converting them into start-up ventures. While incubators and accelerators are quintessential in Western academic contexts, educational institutions in emerging economies are lagging behind in the preparation of future-ready business leaders via the establishment of hubs that stimulate entrepreneurial intention and diffusion of innovation.Design/methodology/approachIn this conceptual paper, the authors seek to contribute to the development of entrepreneurial education ecosystems in less advanced regions of the world through the activation of university-based centers of innovation. The authors rely on a general review of the specialized literature to identify best practice insights pertaining to curriculum design and draw on the combined expertise of the authors’ research team in delivering entrepreneurship and innovation (under)graduate courses and executive education programs in emerging countries.FindingsThe authors conceptualize the mission, vision and curriculum of an innovation hub that can be adopted by any institution of higher education from transitional and emerging market settings to build powerful entrepreneurial mindsets in the future generation of innovative leaders. The proposed innovation hub curriculum incorporates a number of practically relevant and learning boosting activities, including the “So, You Think You Can Innovate?” competition, networking events and guest speakers and training seminars and workshops.Originality/valueTo keep up with changing industry dynamics and secure the relevance of their programs, institutions of higher education in emerging economies need to embrace entrepreneurial models of instruction. They ought to allocate temporal, physical and mental spaces and infrastructure to students to facilitate the generation of innovative concepts and encourage them toward commercialization.

The Crisis of Perinatal Mental Health in the Age of Covid-19.

In the US, the COVID-19 pandemic adds a new source of stress for women in the perinatal period, a time when stress and anxiety are already heightened. The closures of physical mental health care spaces and lack of support could have devastating impacts on the health of postpartum women and their newborns. Yet, the pandemic creates an opportunity to innovate in the ways mental health care is delivered to pregnant and postpartum women. With the expanded capacity for video and telephone visits, researchers should continue to explore solutions for providing support networks to this vulnerable population.

Aura, thanatoplaces, and the construction of thanatourism emotions

ABSTRACT The present study addresses thanatourism emotions by focusing on tourists’ individual perceptions and the role of the thanatourism place (referred to as the thanatoplace). The research draws on fifty in-depth interviews with tourists in close and distant proximity from thanatoplaces. The findings illustrate that thanatourism emotions can be conceptualized at the intersection of ‘physical place’ and ‘mental space’. The physical dimension encompasses the actual thanatoplace. Tourists within thanatoplaces generate emotions by connecting instantaneously with the place and its aura. The mental space involves a tourist’s recollection of thanatourism places and the perception of the thanatourism aura. Perceived thanatourism aura relates to the extent to which a tourist acknowledges the significance and value of a thanatoplace. The interaction of physical place and mental space leads to the generation of four ‘states of being’ in relation to thanatourism: the ‘enlightened’, the ‘passing-by’, the ‘reminiscing’, and the ‘forward-looking’. Contributions to research and practice are provided.