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Cognitive processes that require spatial information rely on synaptic plasticity in the dorsal CA1 area (dCA1) of the hippocampus. Since the function of the hippocampus is impaired in aged individuals, it remains unknown how aged animals make spatial choices. Here, we used IntelliCage to study behavioral processes that support spatial choices of aged female mice living in a group. As a proxy of training-induced synaptic plasticity, we analyzed the morphology of dendritic spines and the expression of a synaptic scaffold protein, PSD-95. We observed that spatial choice training in young adult mice induced correlated shrinkage of dendritic spines and downregulation of PSD-95 in dCA1. Moreover, long-term depletion of PSD-95 by shRNA in dCA1 limited correct choices to a reward corner, while reward preference was intact. In contrast, old mice used behavioral strategies characterized by an increased tendency for perseverative visits and social interactions. This strategy resulted in a robust preference for the reward corner during the spatial choice task. Moreover, training decreased the correlation between PSD-95 expression and the size of dendritic spines. Furthermore, PSD-95 depletion did not impair place choice or reward preference in old mice. Thus, our data indicate that while young mice require PSD-95-dependent synaptic plasticity in dCA1 to make correct spatial choices, old animals observe cage mates and stick to a preferred corner to seek the reward. This strategy is resistant to the depletion of PSD-95 in the CA1 area. Overall, our study demonstrates that aged mice combine alternative behavioral and molecular strategies to approach and consume rewards in a complex environment.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTIt remains poorly understood how aging affects behavioral and molecular processes that support cognitive functions. It is, however, essential to understand these processes to develop therapeutic interventions that support successful cognitive aging. Our data indicate that while young mice require PSD-95-dependent synaptic plasticity in dCA1 to make correct spatial choices (i.e., choices that require spatial information), old animals observe cage mates and stick to a preferred corner to seek the reward. This strategy is resistant to the depletion of PSD-95 in the CA1 area. Overall, our study demonstrates that aged mice combine alternative behavioral and molecular strategies to approach and consume rewards in a complex environment. Second, the contribution of PSD-95-dependent synaptic functions in spatial choice changes with age.

This paper explores the sources of preference heterogeneity for landslide protection, with a special focus on spatial determinants. The data were collected using a stated preference survey of landslide hazards in an Italian mountain valley, using a best-worst ranking approach, in-person interviews, and site-specific choice sets. Preference heterogeneity is analyzed using individual and spatial variables with a focus on the importance of geographical characteristics, spatial error components, and landslide locational effects. Results from spatial choice models reveal the importance of accounting for spatial heterogeneity at different levels, given that taste variations were present at both individual and municipality levels.

Selecting and moving to spatial targets are critical components of goal-directed behavior, yet their neural bases are not well understood. The superior colliculus (SC) is thought to contain a topographic map of contralateral space in which the activity of specific neuronal populations corresponds to particular spatial locations. However, these spatial representations are modulated by several decision-related variables, suggesting that they reflect information beyond simply the location of an upcoming movement. Here, we examine the extent to which these representations arise from competitive spatial choice. We recorded SC activity in male mice performing a behavioral task requiring orienting movements to targets for a water reward in two contexts. In “competitive” trials, either the left or right target could be rewarded, depending on which stimulus was presented at the central port. In “noncompetitive” trials, the same target (e.g., left) was rewarded throughout an entire block. While both trial types required orienting movements to the same spatial targets, only in competitive trials do targets compete for selection. We found that in competitive trials, pre-movement SC activity predicted movement to contralateral targets, as expected. However, in noncompetitive trials, some neurons lost their spatial selectivity and in others activity predicted movement to ipsilateral targets. Consistent with these findings, unilateral optogenetic inactivation of pre-movement SC activity ipsiversively biased competitive, but not noncompetitive, trials. Incorporating these results into an attractor model of SC activity points to distinct pathways for orienting movements under competitive and noncompetitive conditions, with the SC specifically required for selecting among multiple potential targets.

Objectives Crime pattern theory and the related empirical research have remained rather a-temporal, as if the timing of routine activities and crime plays no role. Building on previous geography of crime research, we extend crime pattern theory and propose that an offender’s spatial knowledge acquired during daily routine activities is not equally applicable to all times of day. Methods We put this extended theory to a first empirical test by applying a discrete spatial choice model to detailed information from the Netherlands on 71 offences committed by 30 offenders collected through a unique online survey instrument. The offenders reported on their most important activity nodes and offence locations over the past year, as well as the specific times they regularly visited these locations. Results The results show that almost 40% of the offences are committed within the neighbourhoods of offenders’ activity nodes, increasing to 85% when including first-, second- and third-order neighbourhoods. Though not statistically significant in our small sample, the results further suggest that offenders are more likely to commit crime in neighbourhoods they have regularly visited at the same time of day than in neighbourhoods they have regularly visited at different times of day. Conclusion Our extension of crime pattern theory is only tentatively supported. We argue for replication research with larger samples before any firm conclusions are warranted.

We’ve shown that pigeons can integrate separately acquired spatial maps into a cognitive map. Integration requires an element shared between maps. In two experiments using a spatial-search task in pigeons, we test spatial combination rules when no shared element was present during training. In all three experiments, pigeons first learned individual landmark-target maps. In subsequent tests involving combinations of landmarks, we found evidence that landmarks collaborate in guiding spatial choice at test (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, pigeons were trained on two landmarks with different proximities to the target. On tests on a compound of both landmarks, pigeons showed stronger spatial control by the more proximal landmark, a performance overshadowing effect. Extinction of the proximal landmark shifted spatial control to the non-extinguished distal landmark. This reveals that the performance overshadowing effect was associative in nature, and not due to perceptual or spatial biases. This emphasis on spatial control during performance reflects the emphasis on performance processes that were a major focus in Ralph Miller’s lab.

Rats searched for food in a situation that allowed them to determine which locations contained food after searching a small number of them, but not which of the baited locations contained more-preferred food rather than a less-preferred food. During some experimental trials, the latter information was available from the choices of model rats making choices together with the subject rats, because some of the model rats tended to choose the locations baited with more-preferred food. On the surface, the results suggest that social influence specified the locations of more-preferred food to the subject rats. However, more detailed analysis and data from a second experiment indicate that the social influence can be explained by a general tendency to approach another rat making choices, acquired if rats are exposed to a contingency between social approach and increased foraging success.

The spatial pattern of crime has been a central theme of criminological research. Recently, the spatial variation in the crime location choice of offenders by different population groups has been gaining more attention. This study addresses the issue of whether the spatial distribution of migrant robbers’ crime location choices is different from those of native robbers. Further, what factors contribute to such differences? Using a kernel density estimation and the discrete spatial choice modeling, we combine the offender data, POI data, and mobile phone data to explain the crime location choice of the street robbers who committed offenses and were arrested from 2012 to 2016 in ZG City, China. The results demonstrate that the crime location choices between migrant robbers and native robbers have obvious spatial differences. Migrant robbers tend to choose the labor-intensive industrial cluster, while native robbers prefer the old urban areas and urban villages. Wholesale markets, sports stadiums, transportation hubs, and subway stations only affect migrant robbers’ crime location choices, but not native robbers’. These results may be attributable to the different spatial awareness between migrant robbers and native robbers. The implications of the findings for criminological theory and crime prevention are discussed.

Understanding how offenders choose a crime location is a classic criminological topic. However, previous research on offenders' crime location choice did not consider the impacts of ambient population and surveillance cameras on street robbery. Based on the literature, this study integrates ambient population and surveillance cameras data, from the perspective of guardianship. The discrete spatial choice modeling is used to test the impact of their guardianship role on street robbers' crime location choice, accounting for accessibility and proximity, crime attractors and generators, and social disorganization. The results demonstrate that ambient population and surveillance cameras have a significant hindering impact on street robbers' crime location choice, and they play a guardianship role in street robbers' criminal activities. In particular, we find that the guardianship effect of ambient population is greater than that of surveillance cameras. Further, the inclusion of ambient population and surveillance cameras increases the fitness of the model, which underscores the guardianship role of these two factors on street robbers' choice of location on committing a robbery. These findings can have important implications for the role of the ambient population and the deployment of surveillance cameras for crime reduction.

According to crime pattern theory, offenders are likely to select crime locations within their awareness space. Previous studies have shown that offenders often commit crimes within their current and former residential areas and in areas they previously targeted. However, offenders’ awareness spaces obviously consist of more locations that potentially influence their crime location choices. This study examines the importance of the residential areas of offenders’ family members. Most offenders visit their families at least occasionally and consequently get familiar with the areas in which their families live. It is hypothesized that family members’ residential areas are at increased risk of being targeted. Unique data were used to reconstruct residential histories of the parents, siblings, and children of 7,910 offenders who committed 19,420 offenses. The results of discrete spatial choice models showed that residential areas of family members are indeed at increased risk of being targeted. Current familial residential areas had stronger and more consistent effects than had former familial residential areas. Effects were strongest for the residential areas of offenders’ children compared with those of their parents and siblings. The residential areas of male and female family members affected the crime location choices of male and female offenders equally.

Failure to properly specify an agent's choice set in discrete choice models will generate biased parameter estimates resulting in inaccurate behavioral predictions as well as biased estimates of policy relevant metrics. We propose a method of constructing choice sets by sampling from specific points in space to model agent behavior when choice alternatives are unknown to the researcher, potentially infinite, and differ according to spatial and temporal factors. Using Monte Carlo analysis we compare the performance of this point-based sampling method to the commonly used approach of spatially aggregating choice alternatives. We then apply these alternative approaches to modelling location choice in the Pacific groundfish trawl fishery which has a complex spatial choice structure. Both the Monte Carlo and application results provide considerable support for the efficacy of the point-based approaches.

This article studies how burglars select a house to burglarize. We draw on the rational choice perspective to investigate how burglars select a target by relying on house-related attributes to optimize a combination of perceived rewards, efforts and risk. It extends current applications of the discrete spatial choice framework to burglary target selection by adopting the house as the spatial unit of analysis and studies burglars' target selection process in a larger and more diverse study area than that of earlier studies. Using data on 650 residential burglaries and on approximately 500,000 residential properties in the Belgian province East Flanders, we consider a discrete spatial choice model of burglary target selection to establish which house-related attributes influence burglars' target selection process. Our findings demonstrate that terraced houses, houses without a garage, houses that have not been outfitted with a central heating and/or air-conditioning system and houses nearby burglars' residences are more likely to be selected. Overall, our analysis suggests that burglars rely on effort-related attributes to distinguish between targets while higher perceived rewards actually decrease the odds of a house being burglarized. Risk-related attributes are unimportant for burglars' target choice.

This paper analyzes a closed linear polycentric city where households probabilistically select their workplace and residence locations. The study utilizes a continuous logit model to describe household location choices. In contrast to the classic urban model with deterministic location choices, the continuous logit model predicts noticeable direct effects of more than one workplace on land rents, asymmetry of the land rent schedule around secondary business districts, incomplete segregation of citizens who work in different business centers and, therefore, cross-commuting, and incomplete segregation of workers and farmers.

Physical space in an academic library is increasingly important to fully support students' diverse needs for learning spaces. However, inefficient space design and planning give rise to crowded and underutilized spaces in a library, thereby probably lowering students' learning outcomes and wasting costly space. Understanding students' use of space can facilitate effective design and planning, which in turn will result in more efficient use of space. As students' spatial choices (i.e., the act of decision-making of an individual or group among two or more space alternatives for a certain activity) account for much of the space use in a library, this study explored the factors that influence their choice of space in an academic library using a paper-based survey (n = 252) at the central academic library, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands. The five most important space attributes were “Amount of space,” “Noise level,” “Crowdedness,” “Comfort of furnishing” and “Cleanliness.” The spatial choice patterns also differed according to different user and activity profiles.

Three experiments examined the conditions under which the spatial choices of rats searching for food are influenced by the choices made by other rats. Model rats learned a consistent set of baited locations in a 5 × 5 matrix of locations, some of which contained food. In Experiment 1, subject rats could determine the baited locations after choosing 1 location because all of the baited locations were on the same side of the matrix during each trial (the baited side varied over trials). Under these conditions, the social cues provided by the model rats had little or no effect on the choices made by the subject rats. The lack of social influence on choices occurred despite a simultaneous social influence on rats' location in the testing arena (Experiment 2). When the outcome of the subject rats' own choices provided no information about the positions of other baited locations, on the other hand, social cues strongly controlled spatial choices (Experiment 3). These results indicate that social information about the location of food influences spatial choices only when those cues provide valid information that is not redundant with the information provided by other cues. This suggests that social information is learned about, processed, and controls behavior via the same mechanisms as other kinds of stimuli.

One of the main challenges in modelling spatial choices is the complexity resulting from the availability of multiple alternatives at different geographical scales. This study aims to test geographical framing and substitution effects in stated choice experiments by first increasing and subsequently reducing the geographical scale and associated set of choice alternatives in the experiment. Geographical framing effects are tested by comparing estimated choice models for differently sized choice sets. Testing these framing effects related to choice set size helps to inform decisions on choice set composition. The results indicate that changing the choice set size has little to no effect on preference parameters and estimated WTP values. However, the larger choice set is associated with higher error variance, suggesting higher choice task complexity. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Following spatial choice theory and MAP methodology, we employ the data drawn from recent nationwide public opinion surveys to probe the latent political choice space in American political competition. Our analyses demonstrate that, in addition to the traditional left–right ideology continuum, there is a second distinct dimension in American political choice space. More importantly, the results from our regression analyses suggest that the second dimension seems to be driven by a cleavage among different reform prospects, ranging from low-politics reformism, to politics-as-usual approach, to high-politics style of change.

Pairs of rats foraged in trials either together or separately in an open field apparatus for pellets hidden in discreet locations in a 5 × 5 matrix. Trial duration was either 1 or 4 min. The tendency to choose locations that had earlier been visited by another rat was examined by comparing the choices made in the presence and absence of the other rat. Rats avoided visits to locations that had earlier been visited by the other rat, but only if they had also visited the same location earlier in a short duration trial. This pattern of results is consistent with earlier findings from experiments using the radial arm maze. Furthermore, when rats did visit locations that had earlier been visited by the other rat in a long duration trial, they tended to be locations that had been visited longer ago by the other rat than would be expected. This suggests a forgetting function for social memories. These data provide evidence that the social memory reported in earlier studies using the radial-arm maze can be found in other experimental paradigms and that at least some of its properties are common in the two paradigms.

Spatio-temporal analysis is one of the suitable method in crime analysis. It is ability to visualize the spatial patterns and control emotionally over a time-ordered sequence of spatial variation. It has been involved the spatial modeling and models of location- allocation, spatial interaction, spatial choice with search, spatial optimization and space-time. Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Crime (STAC) is a powerful tool to identify the crime patterns and detect the crime hot clusters in identifying the hotspot areas. The aim of the objective study is to analyze the spatial effects based on space and time difference among the divisions (space and time) and rate of change. The different types of crime occurrence data were collected from fourteen rural police jurisdiction (2003-2006) in Coimbatore district, TamilNadu. For this analysis, crime occurrence data were used through ArcGIS 10.2 version. The study was analyzed the random walk incidences, and moving path of the peak incidences which are effective models used for entire surrounding area. The study was concluded that spatial-temporal dimension of crime in rural police jurisdictions and explaining how these outcomes used to assist the advance development of crime prevention strategies.

Predation is a major pressure that shapes animal sociality, but predation risk is not homogenous within groups. Animals located on the group edge typically face an increased threat of predation, although different patterns have been reported. We created a simulation model to determine how changes in predator attack distance and prey density influence predation in relation to within-group spatial position. At large attack distances, peripheral animals were attacked far more than central animals. At relatively short attack distances, central individuals were attacked almost as often as peripheral animals. We used 6 different methods to classify within-group spatial position in our simulations and tested which methods were the best predictors of predation risk at different parameter values. The minimum convex polygon and angle of vulnerability methods were the best predictors of predation risk at large and medium attack distances, respectively. At relatively short attack distances, the nearest neighbor distance and neighbor density methods were the best predictors of predation risk. These patterns demonstrate that the threat of marginal predation is dependent on the behavior of predators and that for some predator--prey systems, marginal predation is predicted to be insignificant. We predict that social prey animals should change antipredatory behavior, such as vigilance, within-group spacing, and within-group spatial choice based on the relative distances at which their predators attack. These results demonstrate the importance of incorporating the behavior of predators in empirical studies and predator--prey models. Copyright 2011, Oxford University Press.

Middle classes attracted attention in literature in the recent periods due to their expanding nature based on new job descriptions depending on the dynamics of the economy. They had used to have no significance in classical class schemes apart from being a group stuck in between the bourgeoisie and proletariat, and performing those jobs that could be categorized in neither side. However, with changes in the economic order in recent years, the meaning of work changed along with the variety of jobs to be performed. It is commonly known that these new conditions are very much related to technological advance providing heightened mobility to capital, labour and information. Changes in the regime of capital accumulation fuelled by new opportunities changed the sphere of work to a great extent. Developments in the arena of work and employment are revealed with the changes in the occupational structure and growth of a white-collar workforce. Apart from a wide range of low paid, and low skill service sector jobs, a wide variety of management, finance, technology and service related high level jobs which required high level training began to be demanded. ‘New middle classes’ came out as a result of such developments. Defining these newcomers became a central issue of research in many fields, but their significance came not only of the jobs they fulfilled or their role in the production sphere. Their consumption patterns, thus lifestyles became a central issue of interest. This may be mainly because class in the classical understanding defines a group with common interests, but these new middle classes did not have any common goal to fight for. What they had in common was where they stood in the production sided class schemes, between the upper and lower classes, but still their jobs were highly varied. In the occupational aggregate approach, classes are defined by occupational groupings at the expense of other factors (Akpinar, 2005). However, today, in the new economic climate, work lost its capacity in shaping people’s lives (2005). Modern society was a work society according to Offe (1985). However, today in the so-called SPATIAL CHOICES OF MIDDLE CLASSES

The importance of travel-time constraints in spatial choice is widely recognized in the literature of geography and related disciplines, but little work has been done toward developing operational models of spatial choice wherein these constraints and their effects are made explicit. The purpose of the paper is to test the accuracy of predictions produced by a destination choice model that does not take explicit account of travel constraints under the assumption that observed choices are made from choice sets delineated by a constraint of maximum travel time. Observed choices are generated by simulation from a new random utility model consistent with the constrained nature of individual choice sets. Results show that the characteristics of constraints are a decisive factor in the accuracy of the unconstrained choice model. Choice probabilities of the constrained reality are predicted with a reasonably good accuracy in some instances, but predictions are less impressive, and even poor, in many others.

Spatial choice, a voluntary form of allocation of consumers to central services, is usually conceived as affected by two factors, distance and attraction. Although usually regarded as exogenous, attraction is in turn affected by the level of use a service receives, and thus by spatial choice. This paper explores the system defined by these relationships, largely by simulation. Proposals are made concerning the initiation and perturbation of the system, and attempts are made to generalize the results. Although it is difficult to connect form with process in such a system, it is possible to identify the factors responsible for system stability.

This paper illustrates the importance of spatial unit shape and orientation in spatial choice analysis. It also examines the implications of assuming spatial units to be dimensionless points in this context. Through theory and simulation experiments, it is shown how these aspects cannot be ignored and how the ordinary multinomial logit model applied at the spatially aggregate level is particularly vulnerable to such oversights. The aggregated spatial logit model in the end is recommended as a general formulation which addresses many of these fundamental issues of interest to geographers and regional scientists.

Previous research evaluating burglars' offending location choices has produced mixed findings about the influence of physical barriers and connectors on offender movement patterns. Consequently, this article utilises the discrete spatial choice approach to formally evaluate the impact of barriers and connectors on residential burglars' macro-level offending location choices. Data from Perth, Western Australia, demonstrated that physical barriers and connectors exert significant influence on offender decision-making at this level, and that the influence of impermeable barriers increases with proximity of these obstacles to the offender's point of origin. These findings provide formalised evidence for the independent importance of physical barriers and connectors in offender movement and are discussed with respect to current environmental criminology theory.

Frequently, in spatial interaction analysis, researchers are forced to use destinations that are zonal aggregates of the ‘real’ destinations perceived by the participants in the interaction process. Previous simulation studies demonstrated that, under certain circumstances, the aggregated spatial choice model can outperform the popular ordinary multinomial logit model, both in explanatory power and predictive ability. In this paper, the two models are compared with interprovincial migration microdata for the time period 1990-91, obtained from the 1991 Canadian census. Since this is not meant to be a migration study, the analysis is limited to out-migrants from Ontario. The results indicate that, at least with the data used, the multinomial logit model performed reasonably well. The paper, however, highlights some practical advantages that can accrue from the use of the aggregated model. Dans l'analyse de l'interaction a reference spatiale, il arrive frequemment que les chercheurs soient contraints de se servir de destinations qui regroupent les≪vraies≫destinations percues par les participants dans le processus d'interaction. Les etudes en simulations anterieures ont demontre que, dans certaines circonstances, le modele groupe des choix a reference spatiale peut donner de meilleurs resultats que le modele ordinaire commun du logit multinomial, sur le plan de la capacite d'explication comma sur celui de la valeur de prevision. Dans la presente etude, on fait la comparaison entre les deux modeles en utilisant les microdonnees sur l'emigration interprovinciale en 1990-91 obtenues par le recensement de 1991. L'analyse ne porte que sur les emigrants de l'Ontario puisqu'elle ne vise pas particulierement l'etude de l'emigration. D'apres les resultats, le modele employant le logit multinomial fonctionne relativement bien, au moins avec les donnees utilisees. Toutefois, l'etude souligne certains avantages pratiques pouvant inciter a se servir davantage du modele groupe.

In two experiments using a radial-arm maze, pairs of rats made choices among eight maze locations, each containing a large quantity of one of two food types. The choices made by 1 rat affected the choices made by the other rat. Under most conditions, visits by 1 rat increased the tendency of the other rat to subsequently choose that maze location. However, the effect depended on the quality of the food available in a particular location. When it was possible for the rats to observe each other on the maze arms and a rat had experienced that a location contained the less preferred food type, a previous visit to that location by the foraging partner decreased the tendency to visit that location. These effects are attributed to working memory for the spatial choices of another rat, and they indicate that memory produced by a rat's own visit to a maze location is integrated with memory for the behavior of another rat to determine spatial choice.

In a recent article, the authors (Miller & Shettleworth, 2007) showed how the apparently exceptional features of behavior in geometry learning ("reorientation") experiments can be modeled by assuming that geometric and other features at given locations in an arena are learned competitively as in the Rescorla-Wagner model and that the probability of visiting a location is proportional to the total associative strength of cues at that location relative to that of all relevant locations. Reinforced or unreinforced visits to locations drive changes in associative strengths. Dawson, Kelly, Spetch, and Dupuis (2008) have correctly pointed out that at parameter values outside the ranges the authors used to simulate a body of real experiments, our equation for choice probabilities can give impossible and/or wildly fluctuating results. Here, the authors show that a simple modification of the choice rule eliminates this problem while retaining the transparent way in which the model relates spatial choice to competitive associative learning of cue values.

We combine concepts and methods from hierarchical spatial systems, spatial interaction modeling, and location-allocation modeling to derive optimal hierarchical facility systems. We consider models of increasing realism in how spatial interaction is dealt with—the first two are from past literature, the third is new. The p-median model assumes that patrons always travel to the closest facility and that distance minimization best serves them. Several researchers have observed, however, that patients in the developing world frequently bypass lower level facilities to attend more distant higher level ones. Previous location-allocation models have incorporated spatial interaction models attributing attendance and benefits to facility size and distance. In this article, we present a new model that incorporates a spatial choice interaction model attributing attendance and benefits to facility size, distance, and neighborhood accessibility. We demonstrate our approach with 150-node, three-level Oppong's...

The orienting attention network is responsible for prioritizing sensory input through overt or covert shifts of attention among targets. The ability to disengage attention is essential for the proper functioning of this network. In addition to its importance for proper orienting, deficits in disengagement have been recently implicated in autism disorders. Despite its importance, the neural mechanisms underlying disengagement processing are still poorly understood. In this study, the involvement of the superior colliculus (SC) in disengagement was investigated in unrestrained rats that had been trained in a two-alternative light-guided spatial choice task. At each trial, the rats had to choose one of two paths, leading either to a large or a small reward, based on 1 (single-cue) or 2 (double-cue) lights. The task consisted of serial trials with single- and/or double-cue lights, and rats could acquire a large reward if the rats chose infrequent lights when infrequent cue lights were presented after preceding frequent cue lights. Experiment 1 included trials with either single- or double-cue lights, and infrequent trials with double-cue lights required both attentional disengagement and shift of attention from preceding frequent single-cue lights, while experiment 2 included only trials with single-cue lights requiring shifts of attention but not attentional disengagement. The results indicated that temporary inactivation of the SC by muscimol injections selectively impaired performance on trials requiring disengagement. No impairment was observed on the other trials, in which attention disengagement was not required. The results provide the first evidence that the SC is necessary for attentional disengagement.

A series of exploratory analyses of auto thefts in the city of Buffalo are reported and discussed in this paper. With the aid of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA), the spatial clustering of auto thefts in Buffalo is evaluated, the distribution of auto thefts along the streets is examined, and the spatial choice of auto thefts as related to the patterns of socioeconomic activities in the study area is investigated. In addition to the patterns of auto theft hot spots, this study also examines the impact that the distribution of the available vehicles has on auto theft locations. Analyses reveal that locations along the major roads and the roads directly connected to the major roads are at high risk of being targeted by auto thieves. Furthermore, it is concluded that certain types of urban socioeconomic activities are more attractive to the potential auto thieves than others.

Theoretical and practical problems arise when Random Utility Models (RUM) of location choice developed for recreational fisheries are applied to model spatial choice in ocean commercial fisheries. To be relevant to actual open-ocean fisheries, discrete-choice models of ocean fisheries should avoid imposing unrealistic assumptions about spatial decision-making while incorporating detailed and flexible geographic scales. An alternative approach based on poisson approximation can be theoretically consistent with RUM while permitting specification of a choice set of almost unlimited spatial detail. Extension to nested and mixed logit models is straightforward. An application of the approach to spatial valuation of the North Pacific groundfish fishery shows that it can produce nearly identical results to those achieved by a conventional logit model. Although harvests are spread over a wide geographic extent, estimated short-run fishery value densities are highly concentrated in a few relatively small regions.

This paper is designed to review recent developments in choice modelling that offer promise for studying spatial choices. In particular, we focus on the ability of general choice models to account for a richer pattern of spatial substitution than afforded by early choice models. We argue that the generality offered by these choice models is sufficient to rethink the current view that spatial choice is a distinct field of inquiry. Our conclusion is that, while space complicates choice models, contemporary aspatial choice models are general enough to accommodate these complexities.

This paper assesses empirically the importance of size discrimination and disaggregate data for deciding where to locate a start-up concern. We compare three econometric specifications using Catalan data: a multinomial logit with 4 and 41 alternatives (provinces and comarques, respectively) in which firm size is the main covariate; a conditional logit with 4 and 41 alternatives including attributes of the sites as well as size-site interactions; and a Poisson model on the comarques and the full spatial choice set (942 municipalities) with site-specific variables. Our results suggest that if these two issues are ignored, conclusions may be misleading. We provide evidence that large and small firms behave differently and conclude that Catalan firms tend to choose between comarques rather than between municipalities. Moreover, labour-intensive firms seem more likely to be located in the city of Barcelona.

An analysis of the spatial choice of housing builders in the greater Toronto area (GTA), Canada, is presented. A spatially disaggregate database of 126,462 new housing units built by 445 builders is used to analyze the determinants of the intrametropolitan location of new housing. Housing starts are classified into four types: single-family detached (SFD), semidetached, condominiums, and row-link housing. An accessibility analysis shows that the GTA remains a monocentric region where accessibility for most activities declines with distance from the central business district. The location choice of homebuilders differs by housing type. For instance, the construction of new condominiums is more likely to be in high-density areas with high accessibility to jobs. Similarly, the likelihood of construction of low-rise (SFD or semidetached) housing is higher in low-density areas with low accessibility to work and other activities. Neighborhood attributes help determine the type of housing likely to be built in the vicinity. Also, the location of low-rise residential units and planned residential construction is influenced by proximity to major transport corridors in the GTA. The location of condominiums is influenced by proximity to the subway system. Builders are attracted to zones with higher dwelling values, where they can obtain higher values for their products. Spatial inertia in housing markets is presented, which implies that the presence of a certain type of housing attracts more housing of that type to the vicinity.

Choice model construction is usually based on information about a number of separate choice situations, for which all relevant quantities are known. This paper concerns the case where only higher level, aggregate information is available about the choice results and the prevailing conditions. We demonstrate the applicability of a generic inverse parameter estimation method in estimating a model for grocery store choice. We also propose some enhancements to standard spatial choice models and demonstrate their applicability.

An interesting way to understand and eventually improve the well-being of captive animals is to compare different living and social conditions, in order to analyze the behavioral differences between animals living in very restrictive conditions and animals enjoying more permissive ones. In the present study we performed 10 observations of six wolf enclosures with quite different living and social conditions. The rest/activity balance, behavioral diversity, and use of available space were used as welfare criteria. Results show that the proportion of time resting was higher in large, comfortable enclosures. In each park, animals used only a part of the available space, the proportion being lower in large enclosures. The behavioral diversity was little affected by the size of the enclosure, but highly related to the composition of the pack. The results underline the importance of spatial choice and social group management. Zoo Biol 22:33–44, 2003 © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

In spite of growing demands for research into the pedestrian movement characteristics of large multilevel spaces, research attempted so far has featured fragmented approaches lacking reference to spatial preference in the process of route choice and decision behavior. This article investigates how multiple design factors, such as attractors and generators of movement, grade separation by multiple levels, and local visual factors of transition spaces, affect the patterns of individual route choice and movement behavior. More specifically, this study explores the dynamic interactions occurring between the internal route structure, the degree of familiarity, and the level changes of the two multilevel systems. This investigation aimed to determine which design factor is more vital for understanding how multilevel systems work in general. The two case studies studied have demonstrated that there are certain hierarchical interactions among those design factors that contribute to route choice and decision behavior in multilevel urban complexes.

This paper reviews various approaches to the modelling of spatial choice. Spatial choice modelling is viewed as a distinct area of research, within the larger field of discrete choice modelling, with a sound methodological basis and computationally tractable modelling framework. This review draws upon empirical application of spatial choice models to interregional migration and identifies the main research issues, summarizes the progress of research thus far, and suggests some paths for future research. It is argued that some of the widely used models suffer from problems derived from their development in aspatial choice contexts. Acknowledging the increased complexity and, possibly, the different choice process that spatial choice situations present over their aspatial counterparts leads to the development of the socalled competing destinations model and its variants. Evidence from empirical tests of these spatial choice models suggests that analysts engaged in interregional migration modelling risk model misspecification if they ignore the peculiarities of spatial choice.

A simulation experiment is proposed and undertaken to extend our understanding of the role of the competing destinations spatial interaction model in capturing the effects of hierarchical destination choice. In doing so, we make explicit the linkage between spatial choice behaviour at different levels of a spatial hierarchy. We also make explicit the way in which decisions made at one level of the hierarchy can lead to biased measurements of behaviour at a lower one. This is shown when conventional spatial interaction models are calibrated with interaction data that result from hierarchical destination choice.

In marketing science, hazard-rate models have shown great promise for investigating the dynamics of brand choice. In this paper, the value of hazard-rate models in geographic research is illustrated by the estimation of proportional hazards models and accelerated failure-time models for a well-defined spatial choice problem. These hazard-rate models produce satisfactory results and provide insights into the state and temporal dependencies of the spatial choice situation being investigated.

In this paper the authors describe the application of spatial choice models to microlevel intermetropolitan migration destination choice data from the US Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) for the period 1985–90. The metropolitan and the microlevel data facilitate an analysis incorporating well-defined geographic units and their respective attributes, as well as an analysis disaggregated by the personal factors of migrants. The PUMS files provide one of the richest sources of national-level migration micro data in terms of geographic resolution, the number of individual or household characteristics recorded, sample size, and availability. The focus of the modelling exercise is to examine the performance of competing-destinations migration models which are based on the assumption that migrants process spatial information hierarchically. To date the only empirical testing of such models has been undertaken with aggregate spatial flow data, so the PUMS data provide a unique opportunity to examine the behaviour of the competing destinations framework in more detail. The authors provide information on the determinants of intermetropolitan migration within the USA and on the validity of the theoretical foundations of the competing-destinations framework. Traditional spatial choice models are shown to be severely misspecified and the distance-decay parameter estimates from such models to be potentially biased in such a manner that they exhibit the well-known ‘spatial structure’ effect. This effect does not appear when the parameters are estimated from competing-destinations models.

Three tests investigated how the geometric relation between object/landmarks and goals influenced spatial choice behavior in rats. Two groups searched for hidden food in an object-filled circular arena containing 24 small poles. For the “Proximal” group, four distinct objects in a square configuration were placed close to four baited poles. For the “Distal” group, the identical configuration of objects was rotated 45° relative to the poles containing the hidden food. The Proximal group learned to locate the baited poles more quickly than the Distal group. Tests with removed and rearranged landmarks indicated that the two groups learned to use the objects differently. The results suggested that close proximity of objects to goals encouraged their use as beacons, while greater distance of objects from goals resulted in the global encoding of the geometric properties of the arena and the use of the objects as landmarks.

This paper advances the spatial-choice modelling literature by further examining the way in which spatial knowledge is gained. The specific research purpose of this paper is to see how a major boundary (the U.S.A.-Canada border) will affect the generation of a spatial-knowledge surface. It is accepted that an important impact on the way an individual makes a spatial choice, such as a decision to migrate, is the amount and quality of the information he / she possesses about different locations. A positive influence on such a knowledge surface is the population size of the location. Negative influences include the separating distance between individual and location, and the degree of clustering the location faces in respect to other places around it. This paper investigates the way in which these influences also hold if a major boundary lies between a subject and the investigated research space. The paper uses a multi-variate model calibrated on lists of recalled United States city names generated at 9 different Canadian test sites. These are then compared to similar model results from 22 U.S. test sites. The Canadian test results are more consistent than those for the United States. Also, for Canadian subjects, there is no distance decay in the probability of recalling a location unless the Canadian test site is located proximate to a major American border city. A strong relationship exists between the population size of the recalled location and its probability of being recalled. There is also further evidence to support a hierarchical method of knowledge processing, albeit in a weaker form than found in the U.S. test sites. Cet article contribue a la documentation sur la modelisation des choix spatiaux en analysant comment on acquiert des connaissances sur l'espace. Le but specifique de la recherche est d'observer comment une frontiere geographique (la frontiere entre les Etats-Unis et le Canada) influencerait la generation d'une surface de connaissances spatiales. Lorsqu'un individu choisit un lieu d'une perspective spatiale (et lorsqu'on prend une decision de migrer) la quantite et la qualite des ren-seignements qu'on possede au sujet des differentes situations influencent profondement sa decision. La population d'un lieu a une influence positive sur une telle surface de connaissances. Parmi les influences negatives il y a la distance qui separe l'individu du lieu dont il s'agit, la proximite de ce lieu aux autres et le degre d'agglomeration d'un lieu par rapport aux autres dans les environs. Dans cet article nous essayons de determiner comment ces influences fonctionnent si une frontiere importante reste entre l'individu et l'espace qu'on etudie. Cette investigation utilise un modele multivarie, calibre sur des listes de noms de villes aux Etats-Unis qu'on rappelle et qui furent generes a 9 sites canadiens differents. Nous faisons la comparaison entre ceux-ci et des resultats semblables des modeles de 22 sites aux Etats-Unis. Les resultats des tests au Canada sont plus uniformes que ceux des Etats-Unis. De plus, pour les canadiens la distance n'a aucune influence sur la probabilite de rappeler un lieu a moins que le lieu canadien ne se trouve pas tres pres d'une ville importante americaine situee sur la frontiere. Une relation forte existe entre la population d'un lieu rappele et sa probabilite d'etre rappelee. D'autres faits suggerent egalement la validite d'une methode hierarchique de traitement des connaissances, meme si ces indications sout moins fortes que ce que l'on observe aux sites americains.

The characters in L’’Ami de mon amie (1987), the final film of Eric Rohmer’s Comedies et proverbes, live in Cergy-Pointoise, one of France’s New Towns, planned urban developments designed to accommodate population booms outside of Paris. In the film’s opening scenes, Blanche (Emmanuelle Chaulet), a young woman who works for the cultural affairs arm of the local city hall, meets Lea (Sophie Renoir), a student of computer sciences, in a cafeteria. A few days after their first meeting, the two women spend an evening at Blanche’s apartment in a well-known, visually striking residential building of Cergy-Pointoise: the Belvedere St. Christophe.1 When the fictional Blanche occupies this actual building, it is, like the town itself, very new; only a handful of residents walk about the building’s extensive grounds, and the landscaping has not appeared. Like the town in which this film is set, this is a space, a residence, on the verge of completion. And like many of the settings in Rohmer’s films, those spaces in progress inhabited by the characters in L’’Ami de mon amie reflect and often determine their psyches.

GIS, with their predominantly visual communication of spatial information, may appear to have little to offer people with visual impairments or blindness. However, because GIS store and manage the spatial relations between objects, alternative, non-visual ways to communicate this information can be utilized. As such, modified GIS could provide people with visual impairments access to detailed spatial information that would aid spatial learning, orientation, and spatial choice and decision making. In this paper, we explore the ways that GIS have been, and might be, adapted for use by people with visual impairments or blindness. We review current developments, report upon a small experimental study that compares the ability of GIS-based and various adaptive technologies to communicate spatial information using non-visual media, and provide an agenda for future research. We argue that adapted GIS hold much promise for implicitly improving the quality of life for visually impaired people by increasing mobility and independence.

Within the framework of a microeconomic model of leisure demand, the determinants of German tourists' decisions whether to spend vacation at all, which activities to pursue, and which travel destination to choose are investigated empirically. Three-stage nested multinomial logit models are applied to data from three independent samples of persons interviewed for their vacation behaviour in 1975, 1980, and 1985. Implicit prices for the bundles of activities chosen at each of the various destinations are determined by hedonic regression of total expenditure per person and day on the characteristics of the vacation spent. The estimates of these prices, together with a number of socioeconomic variables and individual judgements on destination-specific characteristics are used to explain the individual decision between the alternatives in the choice set. Estimation results clearly reflect the relevance of individual-specific search costs as well as the costs of overcrowding for the tourists' destination choice. While the budget constraint seems to have been alleviated over time, the time constraint has never lost its binding effects on the decision whether to spend vacation at all.