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Swidden smallholders are among the most vulnerable groups to climate change. Many efforts have focused on incentivizing their transition to agroforestry, often with limited results. Such transitions, embedded in complex socio-environmental changes, generate uncertainties, often ignored in the science-policy interface. In this paper, we examine dispersed disciplinary developments in decision-making under uncertainty, apply the insights to a case study, and discuss results in the context of prevalent knowledge production assumptions and incentivized livelihood transitions policies. We use interview data from three communities in the Mexican Maya region to create aggregated mental models of smallholders who adopted agroforestry, and those who continue to practice traditional swidden agriculture. The mental models depict perceived causal connections—including uncertain or delayed—between hazards, causes, consequences and responses. Our results show substantial differences in mental models driven by length of explanatory pathways, attribution of hazards and portfolios of responses, suggesting that agroforesters were more prone to proactive behavior and/or more responsive to outside discourses. Agroforestry is effective in reducing some uncertainties in its bundled approach, but new uncertainties for which smallholders have no prior experience arise. Contrastingly, recurrent themes point to lower self-efficacy in swidden smallholders, which may help explain non-adoption. We caution that not recognizing differences in mental models among potential beneficiaries of incentivized interventions may inadvertently exacerbate inequalities, while unaddressed uncertainties may lead to future disadoption. As a scientific tool, mental model mapping can inform the design of adaptation measures by identifying new knowledge and conflicting rationales, and segmenting strategies for potential (non)adopters. • Swidden and agroforestry mental models differ in size, perceived causes, and responses. • Differences in mental models may be due to learning or self-selection. • Adaptation decisions involve various sources of uncertainty with nuanced group-specific patterns. • There is evidence that responses reflect trade-offs in which uncertainty sources are faced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Spatial navigation is a core function of olfaction in many species. • Olfactory search strategies have become more sophisticated across evolution. • This change is accompanied by the development of more complex neural mechanisms. • Even in mammalian species, odor cues contribute significantly to wayfinding. • We discuss the relevance of these insights for human olfactory navigation. Olfaction is arguably the least valued among our sensory systems, and its significance for human behavior is often neglected. Spatial navigation represents no exception to the rule: humans are often characterized as purely visual navigators, a view that undermines the contribution of olfactory cues. Accordingly, research investigating whether and how humans use olfaction to navigate space is rare. In comparison, research on olfactory navigation in non-human species is abundant, and identifies behavioral strategies along with neural mechanisms characterizing the use of olfactory cues during spatial tasks. Using an ethological approach, our review draws from studies on olfactory navigation across species to describe the adaptation of strategies under the influence of selective pressure. Mammals interact with spatial environments by abstracting multisensory information into cognitive maps. We thus argue that olfactory cues, alongside inputs from other sensory modalities, play a crucial role in spatial navigation for mammalian species, including humans; that is, odors constitute one of the many building blocks in the formation of cognitive maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relation between the processing of space and time in the brain has been an enduring cross-disciplinary question. Grid cells have been recognized as a hallmark of the mammalian navigation system, with recent studies attesting to their involvement in the organization of conceptual knowledge in humans. To determine whether grid-cell-like representations support temporal processing, we asked subjects to mentally simulate changes in age and time-of-day, each constituting "trajectory" in an age-day space, while undergoing fMRI. We found that grid-cell-like representations supported trajecting across this age-day space. Furthermore, brain regions concurrently coding past-to-future orientation positively modulated the magnitude of grid-cell-like representation in the left entorhinal cortex. Finally, our findings suggest that temporal processing may be supported by spatially modulated systems, and that innate regularities of abstract domains may interface and alter grid-cell-like representations, similarly to spatial geometry. [Display omitted] • Relations between processing space and time in the brain is an enduring question. • Imagining changes in age and time-of-day evokes entorhinal grid-like activity. • Unlike equidirectional physical space, time flows from the past to the future. • Time direction is coded by multiple brain regions, including the entorhinal cortex. • The magnitude of grid-cell-like activity is modulated by time direction encoding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article will focus on an individual approach to learning and knowledge control of students. The article describes the learning management system "Vector", its applicability for training in universities and corporate training. The issues of building individual development trajectories of each student from the point of view of receiving recommendations from the system for the study of new sections are considered. The article also considers the possibility of using cognitive maps to build these trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In The Image of the City Lynch describes how individuals perceive and recall features in urban spaces. The most distinctive elements in the urban landscape - categorised in paths, nodes, edges, districts and landmarks - give shape to individuals' mental representation of the city. Lynch's approach has stimulated research into spatial cognition, urban design and artificial intelligence, and it still represents an essential pillar in the analysis of urban dynamics. Nevertheless, an explicit link between The Image of the City and GIScience has not been completely explored yet. In this paper, a computational approach to The Image of the City is proposed. Different perspectives in spatial cognition and GIS research are integrated to obtain a complete Image of the City, in which the most salient elements are shared by a large part of citizens. Nodes, paths and districts were identified through network science techniques. Methods drawn from the information approach to The Image of the City are used to detect landmarks, integrating the complexity of points of reference in their visual, structural and semantic components, as conceptualised by Lynch and successive research. The methods were applied to the central area of Boston and built using freely available spatial datasets. Results were compared to Lynch's maps to evaluate the methodology: besides a considerable discrepancy with regard to landmarks, a good correspondence for paths, nodes, edges and districts was found. Highlights • An approach to computationally extract Lynch's Image of the city is advanced. • For Boston, our computational Image matches well with Lynch's Image. • The most satisfactory outcomes were obtained for districts and paths. • Out of the five elements, landmarks were found most challenging to extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The concept of green supply chain management emerged as a response to increasing public awareness of environmental protection in the past few decades. As companies tend to outsource a variety of their activities, green supplier selection as an imperative function of green supply chain management, has a crucial role in helping companies to maintain their strategic competitiveness. Despite the plethora of studies introducing supplier selection models based on economic criteria, studies that take into account the environmental issues are rather limited. In this study, a comprehensive grey-based green supplier selection model is proposed that incorporates both economic and environmental criteria. A novel weight assignment model is proposed by combining best-worst method and fuzzy grey cognitive maps to capture the interdependencies among the criteria. Improved grey relational analysis is advanced to be able to use grey weights of criteria to evaluate green suppliers which are subsequently ranked using an interval analysis approach. This study contributes to the decision-making theory by addressing the shortcomings of the available green supplier selection models. A real-world case study is also presented to show the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed model. The results of this study proved the proposed comprehensive model to be well capable of addressing the green supplier selection problem by taking in to account the interdependencies between criteria as well as the uncertainties associated with experts' judgments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Equitable human well-being and environmental concerns in urban areas have, over the years, become increasingly challenging issues. This trend is related to both the complexity inherent in the multiple factors to be considered when evaluating eco-friendly cities (i.e. , green cities) and the way this type of city's sustainability depends on many evaluation criteria, which hampers all decision-making processes. Using a multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach, this study sought to develop a multiple-criteria model that facilitates the evaluation of green cities' sustainability, based on cognitive mapping techniques and the Choquet integral (CI). Taking a constructivist and process-oriented stance, the research included identifying evaluation criteria and their respective interactions using a panel of experts with specialized knowledge in the subject under analysis. The resulting framework and its application were validated both by the panel members and a parliamentary representative of the Portuguese ecology party "Os Verdes" (The Greens), who confirmed that the evaluation system created distinguishes between cities according to how strongly they adhere to "green" principles. The advantages and limitations of the proposed framework are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes an application of cognitive maps in the representation of cognitive structures of the experts and assessment of their development/modification as a result of a (computer or expert system-assisted) learning process. It strives to identify information needed for the guidance of the process of creation and management of expert knowledge by formal modeling tools. Changes in experts' cognitive structures are assumed to stem from individual and collaborative (group-level) learning. The novel approach to assessing the outcomes of learning reflected as changes in the cognitive structures of experts or groups of experts, modeled by cognitive maps, does not assume any correct or desired outcome of the learning process to be known in advance. Instead, it identifies and analyzes the changes in (or robustness of) the constituents of the cognitive maps from different points of view and allows for quantifying and visualizing the actual effect of the learning. The proposed methodology can identify changes in cognitive diversity, causal structures in terms of causal relations and concepts, and the perceived importance of strategic issues over the learning period. It can also detect which cause–effect relationships have appeared/disappeared considering the pre-/post-mapping design. Thus, it provides an exploratory account on the changes in the cognitive structures of the expert(s) as a result of learning. The applicability of the proposed methods is illustrated in the assessment of the learning outcomes of a group of 71 graduate students who participated in an eight-week business simulation task. The results of the empirical analysis confirm the viability of the proposed methodology and indicate that the students' understanding of the utilized concepts and associated relationships in the decision-making process improved throughout the learning activity, ultimately showing that the course learning has considerably improved students' perception and knowledge. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the proposed approach has the potential to be effective in assessing learning outcomes in teaching–learning activities. • Technique for unsupervised assessment of expert knowledge development is proposed. • Causal maps represent current state of expert knowledge in different time points. • Desirability of learning (defined as changes in cognitive maps) is assessed ex-post. • Proposed tools enable quantification and visualization of the effects of learning. • Practical use of the tools in expert knowledge creation and management is shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing quality of life (QoL) in urban areas is considered a difficult endeavor. Some of the main reasons for this difficulty are directly related to the complexity inherent in the multiplicity of criteria that must be considered in such an evaluation, as well as the subjectivity intrinsic to the issue under study. This complexity hinders the development of models capable of reflecting the performance of different urban environments in terms of their QoL. This study sought to overcome some of the more common limitations of current evaluation methods, by combining cognitive mapping and the measuring attractiveness by a categorical based evaluation technique (MACBETH), to develop a more informed, coherent and transparent evaluation system. The resulting framework and its application were validated both by the participating panel of experts and a representative of the parliamentary group of the Portuguese ecologist party “The Greens”. The advantages and limitations of our framework are also subject of analysis and discussion. It is worth noting that the whole process assumes a constructivist stance, allowing both objective and subjective elements to be combined in the decision-making framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Episodic memory requires the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex to guide decisions by representing events in spatial, temporal, and personal contexts. Both brain regions have been described by cognitive theories that represent events in context as locations in maps or memory spaces. We query whether ensemble spiking in these regions described spatial structures as rats performed memory tasks. From each ensemble, we construct a state-space with each point defined by the coordinated spiking of single and pairs of units in 125-ms bins and investigate how state-space locations discriminate task features. Trajectories through state-spaces correspond with behavioral episodes framed by spatial, temporal, and internal contexts. Both hippocampal and prefrontal ensembles distinguish maze locations, task intervals, and goals by distances between state-space locations, consistent with cognitive mapping and relational memory space theories of episodic memory. Prefrontal modulation of hippocampal activity may guide choices by directing memory representations toward appropriate state-space goal locations. [Display omitted] • Neural activity associated with learning and memory is described by multidimensional maps • Activity spaces represent environmental features to associate goals and behavioral variables • HPC and mPFC activity spaces interact with each other to support goal-directed behavior The HPC and PFC help people and other animals adapt to current circumstances by recalling previous relevant experiences. We show the mechanisms by which memories are organized so appropriate information is readily accessible in cognitive maps, instantiated by multidimensional neural activity spaces. These spaces represent salient environmental features that help associate goals with behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial dimension of daily mobility depends on where people choose to perform their daily activities in urban environments. This study explores the influence of multiple geographical scales, characterising metropolitan regions on the cognitive images of individuals, whose daily mobility is restricted by an interurban daily commute to a university campus in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona. To do so, a sample of 28 adults from the Barcelona Metropolitan Region (RMB) were asked to describe perceived activity spaces using a combination of SoftGIS technology and interviews. Results have shown that different individuals can perceive the same geographic context in several manners, differentiating their utilised space between spatial continuums, fragmented territories or overlaid territories. Furthermore, factors such as the different spatial scales that affect a territory, the morphological characteristics of residential areas or the transport infrastructures, have proven to influence cognitive maps of individuals. Finally, different methods utilised for the exploration of cognitive maps have provided variations in the resulting cognitive images of participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though individuals with visual impairments are able to form mental representations of space, it is critical to investigate the way they develop or update their cognitive maps taking a closer look at quantitative and qualitative data on them. The aims of the present study were to examine the ability of individuals with blindness to create cognitive maps of routes in familiar and unfamiliar areas through the use of audio-tactile maps, and to compare these cognitive maps with those created after independent movement in the real environment regarding their precision and inclusiveness. Thirty adults with blindness participated in this study. The findings of the present study reflect the positive effect of audio-tactile maps on cognitive map creation and, thus, their effect on the spatial knowledge of people with blindness. Moreover, the findings featured the dominance of the audio-tactile map over walking experience, since the participants formed more complete cognitive maps after having explored the audio-tactile map than walking along the route in the unfamiliar area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By following the steps of the Integrated Water Management (IWM) approach in the European Union, Brazil has moved from a top-down approach to water management to a participatory one that involves different segments of society. Since decisions regarding water affect all economic activities, the environment and life in communities, it is important that society takes an active part in opportunities to discuss and collectively decide on water issues. When this is done, multiple perspectives can be taken into consideration such that the sustainability of water management and planning is more likely to be maintained. Nevertheless, many conflicts arise from society having to share water, a limited resource, for multiple uses. The volume of water needed and the way it is used for certain activities, such as by agriculture and industry, can negatively impact its availability and quality for other uses. This paper proposes an integrative negotiation model to assist watershed committees (WSCs) to deal with conflicts regarding water pollution. In a pre-negotiation phase the decision-makers (DMs) use the Strategic Options Development Analysis (SODA) method to structure the problem and to identify the relevant factors of the decision problem. DMs evaluate the problem from a multi-attribute perspective. Additionally, a post-negotiation phase is proposed with evaluation criteria to monitor how the compromise solution chosen is affecting the quality of water and if the actors are fulfilling their parts of the agreement. A virtual case study is presented to illustrate the applicability of the model, where three DMs are considered as part of a WSC, namely a representative of civil society, a representative of the public sector, and a representative of water users. The WSC has used social, economic and environmental attributes to evaluate proposals and counter proposals. They have arrived at a balanced agreement, taking into consideration their interests. The model helps reduce conflicts between the DMs and it is flexible in the sense that it can be applied in different conflicts and contexts. It is also easy to implement in most WSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the location choices of Airbnb from the hosts' perspective. Drawing on accommodation location models, cognitive maps and advertising place references, hosts' location choices and spatial advertising hotspots are discovered. 136,000 pieces of Airbnb listing data and Airbnb titles in 18 Chinese cities are used to explain the relationship between Airbnb and hosts' place references. Toponymy mining methods and GIS mapping results confirm the existence of a common expression logic in Airbnb locations. Airbnb titles frequently provide the general characteristics of the location and the relevance to spatial attractions, which are oriented to recreation and travel, subjected to effects from multiple groups, and informed by four trends for urban functional zones. The study extends the Tourist-Historic City model into sharing accommodation research through multiple cases and utilizes Airbnb titles data to uncover host-oriented location choices in the context of Airbnb, it reveals the pragmatism features of Airbnb. • A pragmatism trend in the Location of listings from Host's perspective is found in Airbnb • Accommodation location theory is expanded with experiential spatial approach using data from multiple cities • A text-analytic approach combined with GIS is used to explore the influencing factors on hosts' location choices [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In social environments, survival can depend upon inferring and adapting to other agents' goal-directed behavior. However, it remains unclear how humans achieve this, despite the fact that many decisions must account for complex, dynamic agents acting according to their own goals. Here, we use a predator-prey task (total n = 510) to demonstrate that humans exploit an interactive cognitive map of the social environment to infer other agents' preferences and simulate their future behavior, providing for flexible, generalizable responses. A model-based inverse reinforcement learning model explained participants' inferences about threatening agents' preferences, with participants using this inferred knowledge to enact generalizable, model-based behavioral responses. Using tree-search planning models, we then found that behavior was best explained by a planning algorithm that incorporated simulations of the threat's goal-directed behavior. Our results indicate that humans use a cognitive map to determine other agents' preferences, facilitating generalized predictions of their behavior and effective responses. [Display omitted] • Human participants infer other agents' goals using a model of the interactive environment • Predictions about other agents' behavior are achieved by using knowledge of their goals • Participants' behavior is explained by a model that accounts for other agents' behavior Wise et al. characterize the computational mechanisms that enable humans to gain reward and avoid danger in the presence of other agents, demonstrating that these abilities rely on the ability to exploit an internal model of the environment that incorporates predictions about others' goals and actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Involving all interest groups, often called stakeholders, is increasingly recognized as a key part of sustainable natural resource management, promoting acceptability and compliance with management decisions. However, there is the difficulty of how to build trust, integrate diverse knowledge bases and account for varying objectives of different stakeholders. We present insights from a fisheries stakeholder process that used structured decision making and participatory modelling in a workshop series over the course of three years to develop management advice for a northern pike (Esox lucius) meta-population inhibiting brackish lagoons of the southern Baltic Sea in Germany. The stock is co-exploited by commercial and recreational fisheries who are in conflict over space and fish and vary in values. We formed and professionally facilitated a stakeholder group composed of 15 representatives of all main interest groups. The workshops generated a shared vision and seven mutually agreed management objectives that combined aspects of biological, ecological, economic, and social sustainability. To meet objectives, the group identified more than 40 management options, revolving around stock monitoring, control and surveillance, knowledge transfer, harvest regulations, habitat management, predator control and pike stocking. Participatory model building provided forecasts on the impacts of selected management options, allowing to transparently examine trade-offs based on quantitative criteria matched to objectives. The process overall led to stakeholder consensus about multiple management tools that the group recommended to government officials for future management reform. Challenges remain as to the communication of irreducible ecological and social uncertainties associated with quantitative predictions. In this context, cognitive maps about cause-and-effect relationships affecting pike were found useful to integrate knowledge and remind about uncertainties. Our case study shows that stakeholder-inclusive approaches using structured decision making and participatory modelling with professional facilitation are time- and planning-intensive, but can promote common system understanding and development of mutually agreed management advice also in heterogeneous stakeholder groups that are often in severe conflict with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their efforts to provide a naturalistic account of mental representation, both cognitive researchers and philosophers have failed to properly address an important distinction between two core dimensions of representation: the functional role of representing on the one hand, and the content associated with that role on the other hand. Instead, accounts of representation tend to either conflate these two or ignore the functional role aspect altogether. Here it is argued that by properly separating these two dimensions, we can gain a better understanding of the actual challenge we confront in explaining mental representation. Moreover, it is suggested that certain theories that have traditionally been viewed as competing accounts of representation should instead be treated as complementary accounts of these different dimensions. It is shown that by adopting this perspective, we can overcome certain traditional problems and also improve our understanding of empirical models of cognition, such as those that invoke cognitive maps in the hippocampus of animal brains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial knowledge is fundamental for the autonomy and the improvement of quality of life for individuals with blindness. Multisensory applications that integrate tactile and audio stimuli can provide to individuals with blindness valuable information associated with the structure and the content of space. Low cost haptic devices can significantly contribute in this direction. The present study examines the spatial knowledge that individuals with blindness may build by studying an audio-haptic map of a multisensory application, through the use of the low cost haptic device Novint Falcon. Ten adults with blindness (totally blind or only light perception) took part in the research. The age ranged from 19 years to 46 years. Participants managed to build significant spatial knowledge using the multisensory application. More specifically, rich cognitive maps were observed. The results reveal the usefulness of similar applications for individuals with blindness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists and managers are not the only holders of knowledge regarding environmental issues: other stakeholders such as farmers or fishers do have empirical and relevant knowledge. Thus, new approaches for knowledge representation in the case of multiple knowledge sources, but still enabling reasoning, are needed. Cognitive maps and Bayesian networks constitute some useful formalisms to address knowledge representations. Cognitive maps are powerful graphical models for knowledge gathering or displaying. If they offer an easy means to express individual judgments, drawing inferences in cognitive maps remains a difficult task. Bayesian networks are widely used for decision making processes that face uncertain information or diagnosis. But they are difficult to elicitate. To take advantage of each formalism and to overcome their drawbacks, Bayesian causal maps have been developed. In this approach, cognitive maps are used to build the network and obtain conditional probability tables. We propose here a complete framework applied on a real problem. From the different views of a group of shellfish dredgers about their activity, we derive a decision facilitating tool, enabling scenarios testing for fisheries management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability assessment is an important approach for decision-support in waste management systems. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) is the most promising tool for this purpose, but it still lacks a formal methodological framework. One requirement for establishing an effective LCSA methodology is the necessary involvement of stakeholders in decisions on LCSA models, which still constitutes a gap in current assessments. In this paper we develop and apply a methodology for stakeholder consultation regarding the selection of LCSA impact categories (focussing, in this case, only on social and economic issues). The methodology is based on decision science concepts and tools with an emphasis on the elicitation of stakeholders' perspectives depicted in cognitive causal maps. Results from a case study illustrate a useful contribution from the methodology, revealing both well-established and innovative impact categories with very positive feedback from stakeholders. A methodological issue is the sensitiveness in defining endpoint and midpoint levels of impact categories. The method revealed straightforward and effective, with no necessity for quantitative ratings and minor influence of the analysts' perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Huge amount of internet connected devices affect the usual way of people lives. People now try to find a way to operate all devices they have in the most efficient way. Cognitive maps are used as models for problems analysis on a strategic level in enterprises. In this paper Web of Service concept is defined and further business model of a Social Web of Service-based company is suggested. We also developed mathematical model of customer experience based on cognitive maps which should further be applied to the proposed business model which should improve customer experience management in the enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of instruction on verbal and spatial strategies on the learning about large-scale spaces by people with different levels of sense of direction. 103 participants learned two routes from a video, first without instruction and second with verbalization, spatial operation, or no instruction. For landmark learning, people with a good sense of direction benefited from both verbalization and spatial operation, and people with a poor sense of direction benefited from verbalization only. For survey learning, verbalization had a disruptive effect, and people with a good sense of direction did worse with instruction, either verbal or spatial. By contrast, survey learning by people with a poor sense of direction was not affected by verbalization or spatial operation, indicating their difficulty with survey learning and insensitivity to strategy instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For efficient navigation, the brain needs to adequately represent the environment in a cognitive map. In this review, we sought to give an overview of literature about cognitive map formation based on non-visual modalities in persons with blindness (PWBs) and sighted persons. The review is focused on the auditory and haptic modalities, including research that combines multiple modalities and real-world navigation. Furthermore, we addressed implications of route and survey representations. Taking together, PWBs as well as sighted persons can build up cognitive maps based on non-visual modalities, although the accuracy sometime somewhat differs between PWBs and sighted persons. We provide some speculations on how to deploy information from different modalities to support cognitive map formation. Furthermore, PWBs and sighted persons seem to be able to construct route as well as survey representations. PWBs can experience difficulties building up a survey representation, but this is not always the case, and research suggests that they can acquire this ability with sufficient spatial information or training. We discuss possible explanations of these inconsistencies. • Persons with and without blindness can build up cognitive maps without vision. • Cognitive map accuracy persons with and without blindness sometimes differs. • Using multiple sensory modalities is more effective than a single modality. • Persons with blindness experience more difficulties building up survey representation. • Persons with blindness can acquire survey representation with sufficient training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It has long been recognized that controller strategies are based on a ‘mental picture’ or representation of traffic situations. Earlier studies indicated that controllers tend to maintain a selective representation of traffic flows based on a few salient traffic features that point out to interesting events (e.g., potential conflicts). A field study is presented in this paper that examines salient features or ‘knowledge variables’ that constitute the building blocks of controller mental pictures. Verbal reports from participants, a field experiment and observations of real-life scenarios provided insights into the cognitive processes that shape and reframe the mental pictures of controllers. Several cognitive processes (i.e., problem detection, elaboration, reframing and replanning) have been explored within a particular framework of sensemaking stemming from the data/frame theory (Klein et al., 2007). Cognitive maps, representing standard and non-standard air traffic flows, emerged as an explanatory framework for making sense of traffic patterns and for reframing mental pictures. The data/frame theory proved to be a useful theoretical tool for investigating complex cognitive phenomena. The findings of the study have implications for the design of training curricula and decision support systems in air traffic control systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We study in this work the problem of adaptation on cognitive maps (CMs). We review different approaches of adaptation for CM, based on the idea that the causal relationships of the CM change during their phase of execution (runtime). Particularly, we study three dynamic causal relationships: the first one where the relationships between the concepts are defined as fuzzy rules, and the concepts and the relationship are fuzzy variables; the second one where mathematical models that describe the real system are used to define the causal relationships; and finally, in the last one the causal relationships are defined by generic logic rules based on the state of the concepts of the map. Each one can be used to model different types of systems, because each one exploits specific characteristics of the modeled system. These approaches are tested in different problems, giving very good results, and demonstrating that the utilization of CM as dynamic models is reliable and good. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Despite their lack of vision, congenitally blind subjects are able to build and manipulate cognitive maps for spatial navigation. It is assumed that they thereby rely more heavily on echolocation, proprioceptive signals and environmental cues such as ambient temperature and audition to compensate for their lack of vision. Little is known, however, about the neural mechanisms underlying spatial navigation in blind individuals in settings where these cues are absent. We therefore measured behavioural performance and blood oxygenation-level dependant (BOLD) responses using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in congenitally blind and blindfolded sighted participants while they navigated through a tactile multiple T-maze. Both groups learned the maze task at a similar pace. In blind participants, tactile maze navigation was associated with increased BOLD responses in the right hippocampus and parahippocampus, occipital cortex and fusiform gyrus. Blindfolded sighted controls did not show increased BOLD responses in these areas; instead they activated the caudate nucleus and thalamus. Both groups activated the precuneus during tactile maze navigation. We conclude that cross-modal plastic processes allow for the recruitment of the hippocampal complex and visual cortex in congenital blindness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A cognitive map has been regarded as one of the most efficient ways to solve problems like lack and uncertainty of knowledge in many different domains. In this paper, we have designed an ontology-based knowledge management systems (KMS) which is capable of annotating cognitive maps. Then, an OntoCM (ontological cognitive map) framework is proposed to collaboratively share the annotated cognitive maps between businesses by using an OntoCM Repository. Thereby, in order to manipulate the annotated cognitive maps, we have defined OntoCM operations such as expansion, contradiction, augmentation, and screener. By employing several concept hierarchies as ontologies and simulating synthesis patterns on OntoCM, we have extracted potential relationships between the existing concepts, and expected that the relationships between the cognitive maps can help the businesses to improve understandability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As managers and fishery scientists become increasingly aware of the need to understand fishermens’ behaviour when faced with new management strategies, there is a growing need to develop models that describe their decision-making processes and tools that are able to simulate the possible outcomes of alternative management scenarios. This paper shows how data collected on board fishing vessels, a source of data currently available for many fleets and fisheries around the world, can be combined with Rule Based Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, a modelling technique that is able to deal with both quantitative and qualitative data. Results show that the presented model is able to replicate with a reasonably precision the behaviour of a pelagic fishery. Results and the potential of Rule-Based Fuzzy Cognitive Maps to predict fisher's behaviour are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Cognitive maps and fuzzy cognitive maps offer interesting and transparent modeling capabilities by functioning at a level of conceptual entities (nodes) and their relationships expressed either at the qualitative level of excitatory/inhibitory relationships or being further numerically quantified as encountered in fuzzy cognitive maps. While there has been a vast array of conceptual enhancements, a relatively less attention has been paid to the design of the maps especially when dealing with an algorithmic way of forming the map. The objective of this study is to offer a design strategy in which starting with experimental evidence in the form of numeric data, those data are transformed into a finite and small number of concepts (nodes) of the map and afterwards the connections of the map are estimated. We show that techniques of Granular Computing, especially fuzzy clustering are effectively used to form concepts (nodes) of well-articulated semantics. In the sequel, we show the use of global optimization in the form of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to carry out calibration of the connections of the interrelationships between the nodes of the map. Numeric examples are concerned with the representation of time series and their visualization in the form of fuzzy cognitive maps. Further interpretation of the maps is also discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Participants with personal and without personal experiences with the Earth as a sphere estimated large-scale distances between six cities located on different continents. Cognitive distances were submitted to a specific multidimensional scaling algorithm in the 3D Euclidean space with the constraint that all cities had to lie on the same sphere. A simulation was run that calculated respective 3D configurations of the city positions for a wide range of radii of the proposed sphere. People who had personally experienced the Earth as a sphere, at least once in their lifetime, showed a clear optimal solution of the multidimensional scaling (MDS) routine with a mean radius deviating only 8% from the actual radius of the Earth. In contrast, the calculated configurations for people without any personal experience with the Earth as a sphere were compatible with a cognitive concept of a flat Earth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Web-based Intelligent Systems (WBIS), e.g. information retrieval, intelligent Web, and e-Learning, deal with tasks such as acquisition, representation, and management of knowledge about users. Based on a user profile, WBIS are able to behave according the particular needs of people through the intelligent adaptation of services, content, navigation interfaces, and many more factors. Thereby, the design of an approach devoted to meet such tasks is critical for achieving the goals pursued by WBIS. Therefore, in this article an approach oriented to elicit, state, and administrate user knowledge is outlined. This work introduces a user model, which supports the selection of teaching experiences that are delivered to students in the e-Learning field. The aim is to enhance the apprenticeship of individuals that receive lectures according to the user model that a Web-based Education System (WBES) holds about them. According to a sort of empirical outcomes, it is concluded that: “The success of WBIS is biased by the accurately acquisition, representation, and management of user knowledge fulfilled by the approach”. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Modelling ecological or environmental problems has potential to provide understanding of the causes of such problems and to indicate how to better manage them. showed that cognitive or causal mapping can be used to develop maps of socio-ecological systems but these maps were based on stakeholders concerned with one ecosystem. This article shows how maps from a number of different dairy farmers in different locations, but each considering his or her own farm, can be used in meta analysis to make maps that represent how farmers think their farm ecosystem works. It also shows that the combination of causal mapping with the additional technique of Q method provides a useful solution to the practical problem of selecting from a sufficiently broad range of factors with potential to use in a map. Causal mapping in single or multiple locations contributes to the goal of using peoples’ knowledge of ecosystems to improve our understanding of socio-ecological systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Complex social-ecological feedback loops challenge wildfire risk governance. • We evaluate cognition of feedback loops using cognitive maps from diverse stakeholders. • The prominence of feedback loops increases with aggregation of cognitive maps. • Stakeholders are more likely to perceive amplifying and desirable feedback loops. Increasing wildfire severity highlights the need for large-scale shifts in management of fire-prone landscapes. While prior research has focused on cognitive biases, social norms, and institutional disincentives that limit reform, such factors are best understood as components of feedback loops that operate within complex adaptive systems. We evaluated the prominence and function of feedback loops embedded in cognitive maps—beliefs about patterns of causal relationships that drive system dynamics—elicited from a diverse cross-section of stakeholders in a fire-prone region in the U.S. West. We demonstrate that cognition of feedback loops is rare among individuals, but increasingly prominent within aggregations of cognitive maps, which underscores the importance of collaborative decision-making. Our analysis further reveals a bias toward perception of amplifying feedback loops and of loops in which management actions result in desirable outcomes, which points to areas where progress may be made in reforming wildfire risk governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Due to the lack of an integral study about cognitive maps (CM) that focus on the causal phenomenon, this paper introduces the underlying concepts towards a holistic conceptual model, enhanced by a profile of several versions. We illustrate the use of CM through their application into the Web-based Education Systems (WBES). From the causal perspective, CM depict and simulate the systems dynamics based upon qualitative knowledge about a specific domain. A CM is a visual digraph that identifies the concepts of a given subject of analysis. CM show causal-effect relationships among the concepts and outline complex structures. This tool aims to predict the evolution of a model through causal inference. This kind of inference estimates the degree of significance of change of the concepts in the context of the whole system. The behavior of a CM is given away during iterations that update the variation of the concept state values until reach a stable point in a search space, a pattern of states or a chaotic region. The purpose of this research is to share its findings, depict the work done and promote the use of CM in a broad spectrum of domains. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A model of stimulus generalization [Staddon, J.E.R., Reid, A.K., 1990. On the dynamics of generalization. Psychol. Rev. 97, 576–578] was extended by Reid and Staddon [Reid, A.K., Staddon, J.E.R., 1998. A dynamic route finder for the cognitive map. Psychol. Rev. 105, 585–601] to account for the route-finder issue in the Tolman–Guthrie discussion about cognitive maps. This deterministic model has been described as sensitive to initial conditions in terms of the parameters of a diffusion equation [Reid, A.K., Staddon, J.E.R., 1998. A dynamic route finder for the cognitive map. Psychol. Rev. 105, 585–601]. A simulation study was carried out to test this assertion, evaluating whether the pattern of variation in the model output resembled a chaotic pattern. Results indicate that the model is sensitive to initial conditions, suggesting that the spatial navigation task addressed by this model involves non-linear relationships and complexity beyond the apparent simplicity of the stimulus generalization process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we derive a topological pattern of urban street networks using a large sample (the largest so far to the best of our knowledge) of 40 US cities and a few more from elsewhere of different sizes. It is found that all the topologies of urban street networks based on street–street intersection demonstrate a small world structure, and a scale-free property for both street length and connectivity degree. More specifically, for any street network, about 80% of its streets have length or degrees less than its average value, while 20% of streets have length or degrees greater than the average. Out of the 20%, there are less than 1% of streets which can form a backbone of the street network. Based on the finding, we conjecture that the 20% streets account for 80% of traffic flow, and the 1% streets constitute a cognitive map of the urban street network. We illustrate further a peculiarity about the scale-free property. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using methods developed within cognitive anthropology, we examine the relationship between particular national discourses, cultural concepts and subjective ideas about the international system of nation-states referred to colloquially as countries in English, negara in Indonesian and prathet in Thai. The analysis is based on data collected among university students in Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Broadly speaking, Indonesian, Singaporean and Thai university students share a similar domain of “countries” and similar understanding of what a country is, but they differ in important respects in the descriptive language and cultural schemata they deploy in thinking about this domain. The study has implications for debates on the status of culture in social theory and geography and for the future of regional integration in Southeast Asia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Studies of journal ratings are often controversial. Indices, including impact factors, acceptance rates, expert opinions, and ratings of knowledge, relevance, and quality have been used to organize journals hierarchically. While there may be some validity in consensus rankings, it is unclear what purpose is actually achieved by these endeavors. Impact factors probably help researchers identify authoritative journals, but other rankings likely indicate little more than institutionalized perceptions of prestige. Ranking schema used to derive evaluative judgments do not provide information about the organization of journals from the perspective of substantive content, emphasis, or targeted audience. A cognitive mapping approach that examines how health care management faculty members represent their perceptions of North American health care-oriented journals is presented as an alternative. A card-sort task and importance rating scale was mailed to faculty of North American health management programs who participated in a previous journal ranking study conducted by the authors. Completed assessments were returned from 147 respondents for a response rate of 39%. Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analyses of data provided a three-dimensional, seven cluster map that illustrates the perceived similarities of journals. Dimension I contrasts Applied Management Practice with Health Policy journals. Dimension II contrasts specific domain with broad-based research journals. Dimension III contrasts finance-oriented with delivery-oriented journals. The seven clusters of perceptually similar journals were weighted in terms of respondent defined importance ascribed to each journal within a cluster. This framework supplements ratings by providing insight about how journals are cognitively organized by scholars. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The relationship between spatial abilities and spatial representations of large-scale environments was examined with children between 7 and 12 years of age. Subjects were 172 2nd, 4th and 6th graders from different neighborhoods in Magdeburg, Germany. They completed paper-and-pencil forms of Piaget''s Water-Level-Task, the Rod-and-Frame Test and the Mental-Rotations-Test. In addition children were asked to draw sketch maps of their neighborhood. Performance measures in the three spatial tests were modestly related to each other. There were close to zero correlations between most measures of cognitive mapping and spatial-test performance. An analysis with structural equation models confirmed a model with the two uncorrelated second-level spatial factors spatial ability and spatial representations of the environment. Results also indicate that each second-order spatial-ability factor consists of three subfactors, each representing one of the spatial tests. In contrast to previous studies, the results clearly support the distinction between (1) large-scale spatial tasks where the observer is part of the environment and cannot see the whole space of interest from one point of view, and (2) small-scale spatial tasks, on the other hand, where the spatial relations of objects can be seen at once. The implications of this distinction for our understanding of spatial cognition are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Presented here is a case history of an interdisciplinary program of research on children''s graphic, geographic, and spatial development that integrates approaches from developmental psychology, geography, and education. Some of the theoretical and historical roots of this work are discussed, with a particular emphasis on the roles that Rodney R. Cocking played in the evolution of this work. Described are findings from basic research on children''s developing understanding of place representations, such as maps, educational interventions designed for public television and elementary school classrooms, and efforts aimed at national educational reform. Taken together, the work illustrates Rodney Cocking''s profound, diverse, and continuing legacy to the scholarship of the academy and to the lives of children. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A wide variety of instruments for the assessment of structural knowledge are used in psychology, education, and engineering. A software tool, TPL-KATS—Concept Map, was developed to examine the organization of mental representations via the use of a computer. This software tool provides a more efficient and user-friendly method than the traditional manual approaches to concept mapping used in the past. TPL-KATS—Concept Map can automate the entire concept map task, from instructions, to administration, to scoring. Although originally developed as a data collection tool for psychological studies, this software can be a valuable resource in training, interface design, and education as well. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

What constructs are used to characterize public space? This paper analyzes residents’ perceptions of public space, using data from Visakhapatnam (usually referred to as “Vizag”), India—a city of 1.3 million people on the Bay of Bengal. Extensive interviews, 37 in number, were conducted, using composite group sampling. The sample was drawn from all socioeconomic levels of employees, managers, and associates, at a large industrial plant. The interview schedules contained open-ended questions eliciting residents’ perceptions of public space, and their demographics. Qualitative analyses and quantitative tabulations were carried out. Conceptualizing sense of place in terms of the distinguishing features of the urban environment, a comparison was made between the perception of public space in Vizag and in Western developed countries. The research indicates that lower socioeconomic status people have as complex a conception of public space as do those of high socioeconomic status, provided that the interview schedule is designed to elicit these data. Residents differentiated areas by socioeconomic status, and by land use, i.e., industrial, commercial, and residential. Preeminent concerns—with pollution, crowding, health, and religion—represent much of what is psychologically salient about public space in Vizag. These findings are in contrast with the salient characteristics of public space in Western cities, as found by prior research. We believe that these findings have policy implications for urban planners and leaders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Existing hypotheses for an evolutionary function of depression are insufficient, primarily because they fail to show convincingly the advantages that might compensate for the high evolutionary costs of its features, such as general passivity, decreased appetite and sex drive.In this article, it is shown that depression may have the function of motivating a period of reduced activity after a major loss. It thus allows for time out to update the cognitive structures for altered circumstances, and avoids dangerous actions based on the use of inadequate cognitive maps. This cognitive map hypothesis provides a viable evolutionary explanation for the high incidence of depression reaction, in spite of its apparently unfavorable characteristics. The article discusses how this hypothesis may also shed light on the occurrence of clinical depression, proposing that it is caused by a failure to update complex conceptual cognitive structures. Finally, recommendations for the treatment of depression that derive from this hypothesis are presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We describe a computational model of spatial navigation based on experimental studies conducted with human participants. The model builds and uses a hierarchical cognitive map of a large environment. Computer simulations show that the model correctly describes experimental results including hierarchical organization of space and distance estimation. Furthermore, the model predicts that reaction time for distance estimation varies nonlinearly with distance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we investigate ways to apply news information on the Internet to the prediction of interest rates. We developed the Knowledge-Based News Miner (KBNMiner), which is designed to represent the knowledge of interest rate experts with cognitive maps (CMs), to search and retrieve news information on the Internet according to prior knowledge, and to apply the information, which is retrieved from news information, to a neural network model for the prediction of interest rates.This paper focuses on improving the performance of data mining by using prior knowledge. Real-world interest rate prediction data is used to illustrate the performance of the KBNMiner. Our integrated approach, which utilizes CMs and neural networks, has been shown to be effective in experiments. While the 10-fold cross validation is used to test our research model, the experimental results of the paired t-test have been found to be statistically significant. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Mass violence always takes place in a particular geopolitical context, and how that context is understood influences perceptions of collective responsibility. As international borders shift, often in the wake of war, events that occurred within one geopolitical entity can be understood has having taken place in another. The influence of such geopolitical framing on judgments of collective responsibility remains understudied. Two studies examine how geopolitical frames lead to shifting assessments of collective responsibility for historical mass violence. By depicting historical violence within a particular geopolitical entity (e.g., a country), that entity was perceived as being more responsible for the violence. The studies are set within the contexts of German-occupied Poland and the British occupation of the Indian subcontinent. The ramifications of these findings are discussed for the teaching of history, the commemoration of historical victimhood, and for our understanding of assessments of collective responsibility and geopolitical framing more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landmarks have been identified as relevant and prominent urban elements, explicitly involved in human navigation processes. Despite the understanding accumulated around their functions, landmarks have not been included in simulation models of pedestrian movement in urban environments. In this paper, we describe an Agent-Based Model (ABM) for pedestrian movement simulation that incorporates the role of on-route and distant landmarks in agents' route choice behaviour. Route choice models with and without landmarks were compared by using four scenarios: road distance minimisation, least cumulative angular change, road distance minimisation and landmarks, least cumulative angular change and landmarks. The city centre of London was used as a case study and a set of GPS trajectories was employed to evaluate the model. The introduction of landmarks led to more heterogeneous patterns that diverge from the minimisation models. Landmark-based navigation brought about high pedestrian volumes along the river (up to 13% of agents) and the boundaries of the parks (around 8% of the agents). Moreover, the model evaluation showed that the results of the landmark-based scenarios were not significantly different from the GPS trajectories in terms of cumulative landmarkness, whereas the other scenarios were. This implies that our proposed landmark-based route choice approach was better able to reproduce human navigation. At the street-segment level, the pedestrian volumes emerging from the scenarios were comparable to the trajectories' volumes in most of the case study area; yet, under- and over-estimation were observed along the banks of the rivers and across green areas (up to +7%, −11% of volumes) in the landmark-based scenarios, and along major roads (up to +11% of volumes) in the least cumulative angular change scenario. While our model could be expanded in relation to the agents' cognitive representation of the environment, e.g. by considering other relevant urban elements and accounting for individual spatial knowledge differences, the inclusion of landmarks in route choice models results in more plausible agents that make use of relevant urban information. • A pedestrian agent-based model that includes landmarks in route planning is devised. • Landmarks brought about a more heterogenous distribution of pedestrian agents. • Landmarks led agents towards parks and the river more often. • The introduction of landmarks improved the correspondence with a set of GPS routes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Baltic Sea region, salmon are valued for the ecological, economic, and cultural benefits they provide. However, these fish are threatened due to historical overfishing, disease, and reduced access to spawning rivers. Climate change may pose another challenge for salmon management. Therefore, we conducted a problem-framing study to explore the effects climate change may have on salmon and the socio-ecological system they are embedded within. Addressing this emerging issue will require the cooperation of diverse stakeholders and the integration of their knowledge and values in a contentious management context. Therefore, we conducted this problem framing as a participatory process with stakeholders, whose mental models and questionnaire responses form the basis of this study. By framing the climate change problem in this way, we aim to provide a holistic understanding of the problem and incorporate stakeholder perspectives into the management process from an early stage to better address their concerns and establish common ground. We conclude that considering climate change is relevant for Baltic salmon management, although it may not be the most pressing threat facing these fish. Stakeholders disagree about whether climate change will harm or benefit salmon, when it will become a relevant issue in the Baltic context, and whether or not management efforts can mitigate any negative impacts climate change may have on salmon and their fishery. Nevertheless, by synthesizing the stakeholders' influence diagrams, we found 15 themes exemplifying: (1) how climate change may affect salmon, (2) goals for salmon management considering climate change, and (3) strategies for achieving those goals. Further, the stakeholders tended to focus on the riverine environment and the salmon life stages occurring therein, potentially indicating the perceived vulnerability of these life stages to climate change. Interestingly, however, the stakeholders tended to focus on traditional fishery management measures, like catch quotas, to meet their goals for these fish considering climate change. Further, social variables, like "politics," "international cooperation," and "employment" comprised a large proportion of the stakeholders' diagrams, demonstrating the importance of these factors for salmon management. Unlabelled Image • Climate change may pose a challenge for Baltic salmon management. • We frame the problem using a participatory approach. • Stakeholders' mental models form the basis of the problem framing. • 15 key themes holistically describe this problem and its context. • Understanding areas of conflict and collaboration between stakeholders is crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]