The comparative cognition of spatial organisation: working memory and vision

old_uid5690
titleThe comparative cognition of spatial organisation: working memory and vision
start_date2008/11/26
schedule16h
onlineno
summaryTwo converging lines of research will be presented which focus on the comparative cognition of spatial organisation in working memory and vision. Results indicate that a tendency to spontaneously use spatial constraints for the organisation of search is a predictor of interspecies differences in working memory. Systematic investigations of serial recall show that human working memory benefits from the encoding of series of items segregated by serial-spatial structures and that these benefits are mediated by frontal and executive functions. Comparative analyses of visual organisation tasks also point to qualitative differences between humans and other species which do not seem to be easily accountable for by peripheral and other low level cognitive functions. On the basis of these results, it will be suggested that the assessment of the ability to use structure to minimise the demands of cognitive tasks may provide more insights concerning the emergence of human cognitive sophistication than comparisons based on measures of mental capacity and speed of processing.
responsiblesBishop