Overview

This book considers how it is possible for people to use directions like 'above the table' or 'over the city'. How does our brain or any other information processing system represent a direction as a spatial entity? And, how is it possible to link such a representation to language, so that we talk about a direction we have in mind? When we look at or imagine a scene, what entities can be employed for representing a direction, and what are the parts in language that can be used to talk about directions? This book brings together research from linguistics, psychology, philosophy, computer science, anthropology, and neuroscience to answer these intriguing questions. By considering direction representation across different languages and in different information processing systems, this book gives an overview of the main issues in this area for both the interested novice and the specialized researcher.

Full Product Details

Author:   Emile van der Zee (, University of Lincoln) ,  Jon Slack (, University of Lincoln)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Volume:   1
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.543kg
ISBN:  

9780199260195

ISBN 10:   0199260192
Pages:   300
Publication Date:   14 August 2003
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

1: The representation of direction in language and space 2: Spatial language and spatial cognition: the roles of axial and vector 3: Vectors across spatial domains: from place to size, orientation, shape and parts 4: Vector grammar, places, and the functional role of the spatial prepositions in English 5: Constraints on motion event coding: vectors or path shapes? 6: Defining spatial relations: reconciling axis and vector representations 7: Places: points, paths, and portions 8: Ontological problems for the semantics of spatial expressions in natural language 9: Change of orientation 10: Memory for locations relative to objects: axes and the categorization of regions 11: How Finnish postpositions see the axis system 12: Directions from shape: how spatial features determine reference axis categorization 13: Spatial prepositions, spatial templates, and 'semantic' versus 'pragmatic' visual representations

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Author Information

Emile van der Zee is senior lecturer in Psychology at the University of Lincoln. His publications include Cognitive Interfaces: Constraints on Linking Cognitive Information (2000, together with prof. Urpo Nikanne), also published by Oxford University Press. Jon Slack is the head of Psychology at the University of Lincoln. He completed his PhD at Manchester University in 1976 and has held teaching posts at the Open University and the University of Kent. His main research interests are in neural network modeling and representational theory.

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