Functional Features In Language And Space

The notions of 'function', 'feature' and 'functional feature' are associated with relatively new developments and insights in several areas of cognition. This book brings together different definitions, insights and research related to defining these notions from such diverse areas as language, perception, categorization and development. Each of the contributors in this book explicitly defines the notion of 'function', 'feature' or 'functional feature' within their own theoretical framework, presents research in which such a notion plays a pivotal role, and discusses the contribution of functional features in relation to their insights in a particular area of cognition. As such, this book not only presents new developments devoted to defining 'function', 'feature' and 'functional feature' in several sub-disciplines of cognitive science, but also offers a focused account of how these notions operate within the cognitive interface linking language and spatial representation. All book chapters are accessible for the interested novice, and offer the specialized researcher new empirical and theoretical insights into defining function, both with respect to the language and space interface and across cognition. The introduction to the book presents the reader with the main issues and viewpoints that are discussed in more detail in each of the book chapters.

Notions of 'function', 'feature' and 'functional feature' are associated with relatively new developments and insights in several areas of cognition. This book brings together definitions, insights and research related to defining these notions from diverse areas, including language and perception.

This book brings together researchers in linguistics, computer science, psychology and cognitive science to investigate how motion is encoded in language. Part I considers the parameters of the field, while part II looks at the way in which spatial scale or granularity plays a role in the encoding of motion in language.

This book brings together experts from the fields of linguistics, psychology and neuroscience to explore how a multidisciplinary approach can impact on research into the neurocognition of language. International contributors present cutting-edge research from cognitive and developmental psychology, neuropsychology, psycholinguistics and computer science, and discuss how this contributes to neuropsycholinguistics, a term coined by Jean-Luc Nespoulous, to whom this book is dedicated. Chapters illustrate how researchers with different methods and theoretical backgrounds can contribute to a unified vision of the study of language cognition. Reinterpreting neuropsycholinguistics through the lens of each research field, the book demonstrates important attempts to adopt a comprehensive view of speech and language pathology. Divided into three sections the book covers: linguistic mechanisms and the architecture of language the relationship between language and other cognitive processes the assessment of speech and language disabilities and compensatory mechanisms. Neuropsycholinguistic Perspectives on Language Cognition presents a unique contribution to cognitive science and language science, from linguistics to neuroscience. It will interest academics and scholars in the field, as well as medical researchers, psychologists, and speech and language therapists.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed postproceedings of the International Conference on Spatial Cognition 2004 held in Fauenchiemsee, Germany in October 2004. The 27 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 50 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on route directions, wayfinding, and spatial behaviour; description of space, prepositions and reference; meta-models, diagrams, and maps; spatial-temporal representation and reasoning; and robot mapping and piloting.

This book considers how people talk about the location of objects and places. The book reports on the latest developments in the field of spatial language and sets an agenda for future research on spatial conceptualization and communication in cognitive science, computer science, psychology, and linguistics.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Spatial Cognition, Spatial Cognition 2006. It covers spatial reasoning, human-robot interaction, visuo-spatial reasoning and spatial dynamics, spatial concepts, human memory, mental reasoning and assistance, spatial concepts, human memory and mental reasoning, navigation, wayfinding and route instructions as well as linguistic and social issues in spatial knowledge processing.

Space is presently the focus of much research and debate across disciplines, including linguistics, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy. One strong feature of this collection is to bring together theoretical and empirical contributions from these varied scientific traditions, with the collective aim of addressing fundamental questions at the forefront of the current literature: the nature of space in language, the linguistic relativity of space, the relation between spatial language and cognition. Linguistic analyses highlight the multidimensional and heterogeneous nature of space, while also showing the existence of a set of types, parameters, and principles organizing the considerable diversity of linguistic systems and accounting for mechanisms of diachronic change. Findings concerning spatial perception and cognition suggest the existence of two distinct systems governing linguistic and non-linguistic representations, that only partially overlap in some pathologies, but they also show the strong impact of language-specific factors on the course of language acquisition and cognitive development.