All living creatures inscribe their activity in space. Human beings acquire knowledge of this space by traversing it, listening to verbal descriptions, and looking at maps, atlases, and digital media. We memorize routes, compare distances mentally, and retrieve our starting place after a long journey. Space and Spatial Cognition provides an up-to-date introduction to the elements of human navigation and the mental representation of our environment.

This book explores the mental capacities which enable us to create shortcuts, imagine new pathways, and thus demonstrate our adaptation to the environment. Using a multidisciplinary approach which draws on psychology, neuroscience, geography, architecture and the visual arts, the author presents answers to a number of questions. Which mental capacities do people mobilize when confronted with space? Which brain functions do they implement? How do digital technologies extend these capacities? By presenting space at the crossroads of a number of disciplines, this volume reveals how each of them enhances our understanding of human behaviour in space.

Space and Spatial Cognition provides a unique insight into all facets of spatial cognition, including spatial behaviour, language, and future technologies. It will be the ideal companion for all students and researchers in the field.

About the Author

Michel Denis is emeritus senior research scientist at the French National Center for Scientific Research and a member of the Laboratory of Computer Science for Mechanics and Engineer Sciences (LIMSI-CNRS) in Orsay (France). As a researcher in cognitive psychology, he mainly studied the processes of mental representation involved in visual imagery and spatial cognition. He is the author of about 200 scientific publications in international journals and books.

Reviews

'Michel Denis takes us on a journey to the fascinating empire of space and spatial cognition. His book offers an insightful up-to-date account of topics that researchers and practitioners have been struggling with over centuries. Philosophy, geography, architecture, psychology, linguistics, and computer science have made considerable progress in the field over the past fifty years. A single outstanding mind describes the perspectives on space from all these disciplines. The author excellently masters the task of bringing them together in a joint and very well written story. The book is highly inspiring for experts and novices in the field alike.' - Christian Freksa, University of Bremen, Germany

'Our lives are spent interacting in space, and spatial thinking pervades imagery in the mind. This engaging volume explains how that happens, how the neural processes underlying navigation in space allow marvelous feats of the imagination. The sources for these insights and their implications are as broad as they are deep: neuroscience, geography, human-computer interaction, architecture, and the arts. Space and Spatial Cognition is a must-read for anyone interested in the workings of the human mind.'- Barbara Tversky, Stanford University & Columbia Teachers College

'Taken together, the apt presentation of topics like cognitive maps and the broad coverageof this book make Space and Spatial Cognition: A Multidisciplinary Perspective a valuable contribution and a very pleasant read.' - Ranxiao Frances Wang, Spatial Cognition & Computation

Book Information
ISBN 9781138098336
Author Michel Denis
Format Paperback
Page Count 246
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 378g