Spatial Concepts Research Articles

An Actor-Oriented and Architecture-Driven Approach for Spatially Explicit Agent-Based Modeling

Nowadays, there is an increasing need to rapidly build more realistic models to solve environmental problems in an interdisciplinary context. In particular, agent-based and spatial modeling have proven to be useful for understanding land use and land cover change processes. Both approaches include simulation platforms often used in several research domains to develop models explaining and analyzing complex phenomena. Domain experts generally use an ad hoc approach for model development, which relies on a code-and-fix life cycle, going from a prototype model through progressive refinement. This adaptive approach does not capture systematically actors’ knowledge and their interactions with the environment. The development and maintenance of resulting models become cumbersome and time-consuming. In this article, we propose an actor and architecture-driven approach that relies on relevant existing methods and satisfies the needs of spatially explicit agent-based modeling and implementation. We have designed an Agent Global Experiment framework incorporating a meta-model built from actor, agent architecture, and spatial concepts to produce an initial model from specifications provided by domain experts and system analysts. An engine is built as a tool to support model transformation. Domain knowledge including spatial specifications is summarized in a class diagram which is later transformed into the agent-based model. Finally, the XML file representing the model produced is used as input in the transformation process leading to code. This approach is illustrated on a hunting and population dynamic model to generate a running code for GAMA, an agent-based and spatially explicit simulation platform.

URBAN SPACE AND CULTURAL ARCHETYPES

This paper analyses cultural and aesthetic phenomena and theirinherent meanings within the Japanese city. In the introduction, Ifirst briefly define the key concepts used in the analysis: culturalarchetype, collective memory, and cultural identity. I will approach
 the theme from a comparative point of view by examining Japaneseurban features and archetypal principles in contrast to the Europeancity.Early Japanese urbanisation centred around imperial palaces, withthe first cities founded by successive emperors from the 7th centuryonwards in the Nara region, near present-day Kyoto. The orthogonalplan for the imperial capital was copied from the contemporaneousChinese dynasties. Spatial organisation was hierarchical, imperialquarters were located at the northern end of the central south–northaxis of the city, and the most prestigious plots were around theEmperor’s palace. Kyoto, the historical Heian-Kyô, was founded asthe imperial capital in 794.Tokyo, the historical Edo, became a “castle city” in 1457 when amilitary castle was built, and subsequently the capital when theshôgun moved government from Kyoto to Edo in 1603. The shôgun’scastle, the centre of power, intertwined with the hierarchical urbanorder spiralling around it. Edo gradually became a modern capital,Tokyo, while Kyoto remained the traditional centre of high cultureand the seat of the powerless Emperor until 1868.The Japanese city is a cultural metaphor. Psychological uncertainty,due to the country’s location in a precarious earthquake and volcaniczone, and an awareness of the perishability of life based on Buddhistphilosophy, have all deeply influenced both Japanese culture andthe Japanese mind. Emptiness, the Taoist ideal linked to Buddhistthinking, is also reflected in the urban space. For instance, a Japanesecity has no designated urban centre whereas in the European citythis is a culturally and economically accentuated place.In this paper, I also analyse the Japanese spatial concepts ma andoku, along with their archetypal manifestations in urban tissue andstreet scape. While ma means experiencing space in time, oku refers tothe hidden dimension of the urban experience, or the psychologicalstate of processing a path whereby the urban core remains hiddenand only partially discovered.Regardless of Japan’s recent historical and economic development,the cultural characteristics of urban spaces have not changed a greatdeal. Tokyo is still a mosaic city of small village-type communitieswith an inherent feeling of togetherness. Hidenoby Jinnai has calledthis phenomenon an “ethnic continuity” whereby the new and theold are mixed in an ethnic order.

Geographical names of the Adriatic Sea on medieval and early-modern maps and nautical charts

The Adriatic Sea is one of the most frequently depicted parts of the Mediterranean on medieval and early-modern maps and nautical charts. Examination of these maps has revealed that the name of this sea reflects ancient tradition, particularly in terms of the use of various versions of the ancient Latin name Mare Adriaticum and, from the end of the Middle Ages, the Venetian declaration of political ambition to gain dominance over the entire sea. This Venetian agenda manifested itself in the naming of the entire sea as the Gulf of Venice (Golfo di Venezia). By uncritically adopting the geographical content of Venetian maps, the Venetian name for this sea was transferred to maps produced in numerous European cartographic centres. The abolition of the Republic of Venice in 1797 contributed to reduce the geographical scope of the hydronym Golfo di Venezia to the water area in the immediate vicinity of Venice, while various versions of the ancient name (Eng. Adriatic Sea, Ital. Mare Adriatico, Fr. Mer Adriatique, Ger. Adriatisches Meer, Cro. Jadransko more, etc.) prevailed. Based on the fact that maps are an important medium of communication of spatial information and spatial concepts, examples of the names of the Adriatic Sea on old maps confirm the importance of these sources for toponymy research.

GIS learning and college students’ acquisition and understanding of spatial concepts

ABSTRACT Empirical evidence is insufficient on the specific roles GIS learning plays in developing students’ understanding various spatial concepts. The present study aims to draw attention to common struggles of learning some spatial concepts in geography and offer directions for future research on GIS learning and the development of student spatial concept lexicon. Three types of technical terms – neutral, helpful associations, and hindering associations – by Glessmer and Brose (2014) provided an excellent framework to explain why some concepts are more or less difficult for students to grasp. Our findings suggest that learning map scale and map projection are relatively easy because they are neutral and introduced as a new vocabulary. Overlay and density are terms provoking helpful associations because they carry a similar meaning in everyday language, so most students had no problems understanding the meaning of these concepts. Spatial association seemed to elicit unhelpful association because everyday use of the term, association, is not precise enough to define spatial association, resulting in students confused with other terms. Future research must be done in the context of GIS requiring students to be able to not only know spatial concepts but clearly articulate these concepts regarding various GIS applications.

On the visual analytic intelligence of neural networks

Visual oddity task was conceived to study universal ethnic-independent analytic intelligence of humans from a perspective of comprehension of spatial concepts. Advancements in artificial intelligence led to important breakthroughs, yet excelling at such abstract tasks remains challenging. Current approaches typically resort to non-biologically-plausible architectures with ever-growing models consuming substantially more energy than the brain. Motivated by the brain’s efficiency and reasoning capabilities, we present a biologically inspired system that receives inputs from synthetic eye movements – reminiscent of saccades, and processes them with neuronal units incorporating dynamics of neocortical neurons. We introduce a procedurally generated visual oddity dataset to train an architecture extending conventional relational networks and our proposed system. We demonstrate that both approaches are capable of abstract problem-solving at high accuracy, and we uncover that both share the same essential underlying mechanism of reasoning in seemingly unrelated aspects of their architectures. Finally, we show that the biologically inspired network achieves superior accuracy, learns faster and requires fewer parameters than the conventional network.

Pracimosono as a Place of Intimacy and Spiritual Experience for the Mangkunegaran Princesses in Surakarta, Indonesia

Dalem Keputren Pracimosono known as DKP is an area for women's communal housing in the system of the Palace Mangkunegaran, in Surakarta, Indonesia. The experience of those who live communally can reveal the history and meaning of the power spatiality and manifestations of space and place, especially when they live within the center of power. In this context, this article reveals the transformation of the sense of space into sense of place at DKP. The study uses ethnographic methods to analyze the life of the princesses in DKP and their relationship with cultural events and intellectual, emotional, and spiritual intelligence development. It applies Tuan’s notion of place to this situation which posits that an environment's geographical properties are related to space and place. Space is abstract, but place is a lived whole with history and significance. Places can express people's feelings and goals. Location is closely linked to a person's sociological and spatial position, with place being a passion or emotion that transcends objects. Places have unique personality, a combination of Nature and dwellers investments. People feel a sense of place when they engage values and aesthetic sense to places. However, the Javanese architectural concept to understand this relationship between cultural events and spiritual intelligence is referred to as ‘laku’ in interpreting space as manifest with the dwellings of the princesses. The paper concludes that the structure of DKP illustrate both Javanese and colonial spatial concepts with a feminine atmosphere. Princesses move between places to form their identity as Javanese Mangkunegaran women. DKP shapes the characters, attitudes and manners of the princesses and direct proper movements with etiquette. The community life of the princesses transforms DKP into place, forming intellectual, emotional, and spiritual intelligence according to the Javanese tradition. Srikandhi Mangkunegaran is a spiritual source for men and serves as a role model for Javanese women. DKP shapes the interiority of place through the intimate and spiritual experiences of the princesses, forming a strong connection to the Mangkunegaran Palace.

Unpacking Occupational Health Data in the Service Sector: From Bayesian Networking and Spatial Clustering to Policy-Making

The health status of the service sector workforce is a significant unknown in the field of medical geography. While spatial epidemiology has made progress in predicting the relationship between human health and the environment, there are still important challenges that remain unsolved. The main issue lies in the inability to statistically determine and visually represent all spatial concepts, as there is a need to cover a wide range of service activities while also considering the impact of numerous traditional medical variables and emerging risk factors, such as those related to socioeconomic and bioclimatic factors. This study aims to address the needs of health professionals by defining, prioritizing, and visualizing multiple occupational health risk factors that contribute to the well-being of workers. To achieve this, a methodological approach based on the synergy of Bayesian machine learning and geostatistics is proposed. Extensive data from occupational health surveillance tests were collected in Spain, along with socioeconomic and bioclimatic covariates, to assess potential social and climate impacts on health. This integrated approach enabled the identification of relevant patterns related to risk factors. A three-step geostatistical modeling process, including variography, ordinary kriging, and G clustering, was used to generate national distribution maps for various factors such as annual mean temperature, annual rainfall, spine health, limb health, cholesterol, age, and sleep quality. These maps considered four target activities—administration, finances, education, and hospitality. Remarkably, bioclimatic variables were found to contribute approximately 9% to the overall health status of workers.

Teaching spatial concepts to children with intellectual disabilities: A comparison of simultaneous prompting presented via tablets and visual cards

Teaching spatial concepts to children with intellectual disabilities: A comparison of simultaneous prompting presented via tablets and visual cards

Sound-symbolic association between speech sound and spatial meaning in relation to the concepts of up/down and above/below

AbstractResearch has shown sound-symbolic associations between speech sounds and conceptual and/or perceptual properties of a referent. This study used the choice response time method to investigate hypothesized associations between a high/low vowel and spatial concepts of up/down and above/below. The participants were presented with a stimulus that moved either upward or downward (Experiments 1 and 2), or that was located above or below the reference stimulus (Experiment 3), and they had to pronounce a vowel ([i] or [æ]) based on the spatial location of the stimulus. The study showed that the high vowel [i] was produced faster in relation to the up-directed and the above-positioned stimulus, while the low vowel [æ] was produced faster in relation to the down-directed and the below-positioned stimulus. In addition, the study replicated the pitch-elevation effect showing a raising of the vocalization pitch when vocalizations were produced to the up-directed stimulus. The article discusses these effects in terms of the involvement of sensorimotor processes in representing spatial concepts.

How time gets spatial: factors determining the stability and instability of the mental time line

Left-to-right readers classify faster past events with motor responses on the left side of space and future events with responses on the right side. This suggests a left-to-right spatial organization in the mental representation of time. Here, we show that the significance and reliability of this representation are linked to the joint use of temporal and spatial codes in the task at hand. In a first unimanual Go/No-Go Implicit Association Test (IAT), attending selectively to “past” or to “future” words did not activate corresponding “left” or “right” spatial concepts and vice versa. In a second IAT, attending to both temporal (i.e., “past” and “future”) words and spatial targets (i.e., “left” and “right”) pointing arrows produced faster responses for congruent rather than incongruent combinations of temporal and spatial concepts in task instructions (e.g., congruent = “Go with past words and left-pointing arrows”; incongruent = “Go with past words and right-pointing arrows”). This effect increased markedly in a STEARC task where spatial codes defined the selection between “left-side” and “right-side” button presses that were associated with “past” and “future” words. Two control experiments showed only partial or unreliable space–time congruency effects when (a) participants attended to superordinate semantic codes that included both spatial “left”/”right” or temporal “past/future” subordinate codes; (b) a primary speeded response was assigned to one dimension (e.g., “past vs. future”) and a nonspeeded one to the other dimension (e.g., “left” vs. “right”). These results help to define the conditions that trigger a stable and reliable spatial representation of time-related concepts.

Creative Kampong and the Promotion of Sustainable Development Knowledge in Urban Grassroots: The Case of Surakarta

As the global trend is going into circular economy paradigm. The trend encourages business entities to focus on the production of durable, efficient, and reusable commodities to promote sustainable development. On the demand side, the market also gradually adjusts its preferences to commodities with sustainability values. With limited scale of capital, networks, and technology, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are usually lagged behind in catching new knowledge, especially those exchanged internationally. Sustainability, which is as an important knowledge under the circular economy trend, has caused serious problem for SMEs because those unable to catch the knowledge will be incompetent to serve the new market preferences and vulnerable to survive. Urban planning practices introduce the business district as one of spatial concepts to mediate the problem. It encourages enterprises with business linkages to locate next to each other and share activities and facilities. In Indonesia, the creative kampong is a local translation of business district concept, which emerges as a national hype. This research aims at studying the empirical case of the creative kampong and its knowledge transfer effectiveness for SMEs. By using the logic of Actor Network Theory (ANT) and focusing on the case study of four creative kampongs in Surakarta, we unravel the level of understanding of SMEs towards sustainability. Our data are based on stakeholder interviews and documentary reviews. The findings reveal that the majority of SMEs were understand of sustainability, and the creative kampong provided a significant contribution to ease the transfer knowledge process.

Spatial Intelligence and Geographic Skills: REACT Model on Regional Development and Growth Materials

The REACT model is constructive contextual learning that emphasizes the meaning of learning and the knowledge built in students' minds. This study aims to determine the effect of the REACT model on students' Spatial Intelligence and Geographic Skills. This research uses Quasy Experimental with Posttest Only Control Group Design. The subjects used in the study were students of class XII Social Sciences 2 as an experimental class and XII Social Sciences 3 as a control class at Senior High School 10 Malang in the academic year 2022/2023. Determination of the sample using purposive sampling technique with the consideration of having a middle school final exam score that is almost the same. The research instrument uses an essay test referring to geographic skills and spatial intelligence indicators. Data analysis used the Independent-Sample T Test and the Mann-Whitney U Test with a significance level of 0.05. The significance value of the Independent-Sample T-Test for spatial intelligence shows an effect of the REACT learning model on students' spatial intelligence with a value of 0.004 0.05, with the spatial concept indicator having the highest influence. In contrast, the reasoning process indicator has the most effect low. The significance value of the Mann-Whitney U test geographical skill test shows an impact of the REACT learning model on students' spatial intelligence with a value of 0.004 0.05, with the indicator answering geographical questions having the highest impact, while the indicator asking geographic questions has the highest influence the lowest.

How is the Spatial Linkage of Inclusive Economic Development in Java Island?

This study aims to analyze the spatial relationship of inclusive economic development between provinces in Java and how the open unemployment rate, inflation and average length of schooling affect the inclusive economic development index. The analysis was carried out using spatial concepts or not by using the value of the inclusive economic development index as the dependent variable and the open unemployment rate, inflation and average length of schooling as independent variables. The analytical methods and tools used in this study include Moran index analysis to see the spatial relationship of inclusive economic development between provinces, and panel data regression analysis to see the effect of the open unemployment rate, inflation and average length of schooling on the inclusive economic development index. . Based on the results of the study, it shows that there is no spatial linkage of inclusive economic development between provinces in Java. The open unemployment rate, inflation and the average length of schooling have a significant effect on the inclusive economic development index.

Semantic Function of Spatial Experiences and Memories in The Southern Elephant by Archil Kikodze and Zinka Adamiani by Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili

Urban space is a specific public space that society creates and lives in. Mental states and material conditions are spatially regrouped in different historical phases and rewritten each time. The topic of this research is to determine the semantic influence of spatial experiences and memories on the construction of narrative identity. Urban novels by two Georgian authors – The Southern Elephant by Archil Kikodze and Zinka Adamiani by Ana Samadashvili-Kordzaia – were selected as research objects. These primary sources were analysed within the following methodological framework: 1. the space semantics of Juri Lotman, 2. Pierre Nora’s sites of memory, and 3. Aleida Assmann’s forms of forgetting. Using these theoretical approaches, it was possible to determine the role of spatial concepts in the construction of narrative identity, and the impact of changes in historical, social, economic, cultural, and worldview conditions on narrative identities constructed in the text.

Feeling up or feeling down: Verticality preferences in personality, pathology, and well-being

Theories of mental functioning have suggested its metaphoric basis. Drawing from theories of this type as well as from recent extensions of such theories to the personality processing realm, participants in three studies (total N = 452) were asked to indicate their relative preferences for the spatial concepts of up versus down, given that verticality metaphors are frequently used to conceptualize states related to emotion and well-being. Up-preferring individuals were more extraverted and approach-motivated (Study 1), whereas down-preferring individuals were more depressed (Studies 1 and 2). Higher levels of vertical preference were also predictive of affective well-being in a daily diary protocol (Study 3) and these relationships operated in both between-person and within-person terms. Metaphors, which liken the intangible to the tangible, may play a significant role in shaping experience and verticality metaphors, in particular, appear to provide insights into the processes that that support happiness versus its absence.

PENGENALAN KONSEP BANGUN RUANG PADA PESERTA DIDIK TUNANETRA DI SLB

Blind students have limitations in obtaining visual information. In general, they only use the senses that still function apart from sight, so that during learning they only rely on verbal explanations from the teacher and the help of concrete objects that can be touched. This research aims to describe the process of introducing the concept of geometry, and knowing the increase in learning outcomes and enthusiasm in learning with concrete objects as media. This research is a qualitative-descriptive type. Data collection is done by observation, documentation, and tests. The research subjects were all class VIII blind students at SLB Negeri Rasau Jaya. The results of the analysis show that the introduction of the spatial concept is carried out in three stages, namely the preliminary stage, the core activity, and the closing stage. The results also showed an average increase in learning outcomes of 33.33% after using concrete objects as media. In addition, blind students show positive enthusiasm in learning with the help of concrete objects.

Active exploration based on information gain by particle filter for efficient spatial concept formation

Autonomous robots need to learn the categories of various places by exploring their environments and interacting with users. However, preparing training datasets with linguistic instructions from users is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Moreover, effective exploration is essential for appropriate concept formation and rapid environmental coverage. To address this issue, we propose an active inference method, referred to as spatial concept formation with information gain-based active exploration (SpCoAE) that combines sequential Bayesian inference using particle filters and information gain-based destination determination in a probabilistic generative model. This study interprets the robot's action as a selection of destinations to ask the user, ‘What kind of place is this?’ in the context of active inference. This study provides insights into the technical aspects of the proposed method, including active perception and exploration by the robot, and how the method can enable mobile robots to learn spatial concepts through active exploration. Our experiment demonstrated the effectiveness of the SpCoAE in efficiently determining a destination for learning appropriate spatial concepts in home environments.

Life in the open: Preferences for openness as a substrate of well-being

Image schemas, such as those contrasting open and closed objects, are thought to play a fundamental role in self-regulation. Open objects encourage interactivity, which should contribute to well-being according to theories that emphasize processes such as engagement, exploration, and personal growth. On the basis of such reasoning, participants in three studies (total N = 889) were asked to indicate their relative preferences for the spatial concepts of closed versus open, which were hypothesized to reflect key motivations related to protection versus exploration. In Study 1, higher levels of open preference were predictive of higher levels of flourishing, a relationship that was evident across four samples. In Study 2, open-preferring individuals scored higher in multiple forms of well-being. In addition, these individuals were deemed to be flourishing to a greater extent by their peers. In Study 3, an open-closed preference slider was embedded into a daily diary protocol and higher levels of open preference were predictive of higher levels of affective and psychological well-being in both between-person and within-person analyses. In additional analyses, open preferences were linked to higher levels of approach coping and to higher levels of goal achievement. In total, the results provide key insights into orientations to the environment that are either conducive (open preferences) or not conducive (closed preferences) to well-being and flourishing.

The effects of animated versus static metaphor with 3D images on EFL learners' acquisition of degrees of certainty

AbstractBackgroundJapanese EFL learners often fail to identify and categorise the different degrees of certainty associated with CERTAIN, PROBABLE, and POSSIBLE items. This computer‐mediated study evaluated the relative effects of animated versus static illustrations on stimulating the spatial concept of distance for the acquisition of this knowledge.ObjectivesThis study aimed to: (1) discover whether the spatial concept of distance captured by three‐dimensional (3D) images in animated or static illustrations help learners understand spatial relationships more clearly, and (2) whether a static illustration is sufficient for learning the different degrees of certainty.MethodAnimated and static visualisation groups used 3D images of animated versus static illustrations that capture the spatial concept of distance, and a contrasting group did not use illustrations. The former applied the spatial concept of distance to learn the degrees of certainty, using animated or static illustrations. A spatial concept‐oriented approach that visualises concepts of distance enabled participants to understand the degrees of certainty. The contrasting approach involved rote learning of a list of target expressions for the different degrees of certainty in English.Results and ConclusionsBoth the animated and static versions of the spatial concept‐oriented approaches were equally effective. The difference between the two versions did not significantly impact the overall performance of the groups.TakeawaysRegardless of the type of effect, the spatial concept of distance captured in words and illustrations helped the participants (1) process the different degrees of certainty cognitively in terms of distances and (2) retain them in long‐term memory.

Researching Student Interaction with GIS Software While Learning Spatial Concepts: Toward a Standard Measure of GIS Interaction

A better understanding of differences in the nature of human computer interaction (HCI) relating to GIS software can help with learning spatial concepts and spatial thinking skills. This motivates our study, which aims to create a standard measure of interaction with GIS software that can be used individually or along with existing measurement instruments for spatial thinking to generalize results across studies for evaluating GIS interaction and usability. The study developed a composite taxonomy identifying types of user interactions and strategies with GIS in relation to different spatial concepts and processes of reasoning. The taxonomy was used as a framework to create tasks which users can complete with GIS software as a measure interaction with GIS. Study data were collected from 35 students enrolled in an online undergraduate course covering fundamentals of geographic information science and technology. Following three course assignments using GIS software to demonstrate a range of spatial concepts for problem solving, students completed various tasks constituting the standard measure of GIS interaction. The results indicate that the standard measure succeeds in measuring how individuals interact with GIS and strategize to complete different spatial tasks. The standard measure of GIS interaction will be useful for the development of usability guidelines for GIS and further contributes to research in the acquisition and application of spatial concepts and reasoning in learning environments.