Five Reasons to Doubt the Existence of a Geometric Module

Cognitive Science

Volumn 34, Issue 7, 2010, Pages 1315-1356

  Twyman, Alexandra D ^a   Newcombe, Nora S ^a  

^a TEMPLE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Adaptive combination; Development; Geometric module; Modularity; Spatial reorientation

Indexed keywords

EID: 77956542653     PISSN: 03640213     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1551-6709.2009.01081.x     Document Type: Article

References (105)

1. Acredolo, L. P. (1978). Development of spatial orientation in infancy. Developmental Psychology, 14, 224-234.
2. Acredolo, L. P., & Evans, D. (1980). Developmental change in the effects of landmarks on infant spatial behavior. Developmental Psychology, 16, 312-318.
3. Barrett, H. C., & Kurzban, R. (2006). Modularity in cognition: Framing the debate. Psychological Review, 113, 628-647.
4. Batty, E. R., Bloomfield, L. L., Spetch, M. L., & Sturdy, C. B. (2009). Comparing black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli): Use of geometric and featural information in a spatial orientation task. Animal Cognition, 12, 633-641.
5. Begley, S. (2009). Why do we rape, kill, and sleep around? Newsweek. Available at: Accessed June 26, 2009.
6. Benhamou, S., & Poucet, P. (1998). Landmark use by navigating rats (Rattus norvegicus): Contrasting geometric and featural information. Journal of Comparative Pscyhology, 112, 317-322.
7. Biegler, R., & Morris, R. G. M. (1999). Blocking in the spatial domain with arrays of discrete landmarks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 25, 334-351.
8. Brooks, D. (2009). Human nature today. New York Times. Available at: Accessed June 26, 2009.
9. Brown, A. A., Spetch, M. L., & Hurd, P. L. (2007). Growing in circles: Rearing environment alters spatial navigation in fish. Psychological Science, 18, 569-573.
10. Bullens, J., Nardini, M., Doeller, C. F., Braddick, O., Postma, A., & Burgess, N. (2009). The role of landmarks and boundaries in the development of spatial memory. Developmental Science, doi.
11. Carruthers, P. (2006). The architecture of the mind: Massive modularity and the flexibility of thought. New York: Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press.
12. Cheng, K. (1986). A purely geometric module in the rats spatial representation. Cognition, 23, 149-178.
13. Cheng, K. (2008). Wither geometry? Troubles of the geometric module. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12, 355-361.
14. Cheng, K., & Gallistel, C. R. (2005). Shape parameters explain data from spatial transformations: Comment on Peace et al. (2004) and Tommasi & Polli (2004). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavioral Processes, 31, 254-259.
15. Cheng, K., & Newcombe, N. S. (2005). Is there a geometric module for spatial orientation? Squaring theory and evidence. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 1-23.
16. Cheng, K., Shettleworth, S. J., Huttenlocher, J., & Rieser, J. J. (2007). Bayesian integration of spatial information. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 625-637.
17. Cheung, A., Sturzl, W., Zeil, J., & Cheng, K. (2008). The information content of panoramic image II: View based navigation in nonrectangular experimental arenas. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavioral Processes, 34, 15-30.
18. Chiandetti, C., Regolin, L., Sovrano, V. A., & Vallortigara, G. (2007). Spatial reorientation: The effects of space size on the encoding of landmark and geometry information. Animal Cognition, 10, 159-168.
19. Chiandetti, C., & Vallortigara, G. (2008). An innate geometric module? Effects of experience with angular geometric cues on spatial reorientation based on the shape of the environment. Animal Cognition, 11, 139-146.
20. Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (1992). Cognitive adaptations for social exchange. In J. H. Barkow, L. Cosmides, & J. Tooby (Eds.), The adapted mind (pp. 163-228). New York: Oxford University Press.
21. Cressant, A., Muller, R. U., & Poucet, B. (1997). Failure of centrally placed objects to control the firing fields of hippocampal place cell. Journal of Neuroscience, 17, 2531-2542.
22. Dawson, M. R. W., Kelly, D. M., Spetch, M. L., & Dupuis, B. (2008). Learning about environmental geometry: A flaw in Miller and Shettleworth's (2007) operant model. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavioral Processes, 34, 415-418.
23. Dessalegn, B., & Landau, B. (2008). More than meets the eye: The role of language in binding visual properties. Psychological Science, 19, 189-195.
24. Diez-Chamizo, V., Sterio, D., & Mackintosh, N. J. (1985). Blocking and overshadowing between intramaze and extramaze cues: A test of the independence of locale and guidance leraning. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psycholgoy, 37B, 235-253.
25. Doeller, C. F., & Burgess, N. (2008). Distinct error-correcting and incidental learning of location relative to landmarks and boundaries. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105, 5909-5914.
26. Doeller, C. F., King, J. A., & Burgess, N. (2008). Parallel striatal and hippocampal systems for landmarks and boundaries in spatial memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105, 5915-5920.
27. Elman, J., Bates, E., Johnson, M., Karmiloff-Smith, A., Parisi, D., & Plunkett, K. (1996). Rethinking innateness: A connectionist perspective on development. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
28. Fodor, J. A. (1983). The modularity of mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
29. Fodor, J. A. (2000). Replies to critics. Mind & Language, 15, 350-374.
30. Foster, T., Castro, C., & McNaughton, B. (1989). Spatial selectivity of rat hippocampal neurons: Dependence on preparedness for movement. Science, 244, 1580-1582.
31. Gallistel, C. R. (1990). The organization of learning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
32. Gouteux, S., Thinus-Blanc, C., & Vauclair, J. (2001). Rhesus monkeys use geometric and nongeometric information during a reorientation task. Experimental Psychology General, 130, 505-519.
33. Graham, M., Good, M. A., McGregor, A., & Pearce, J. M. (2006). Spatial learning based on the shape of the environment is influenced by properties of the objects forming the shape. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavioral Processes, 32, 44-59.
34. Gray, E. R., Bloomfield, L. L., Ferrey, A., Spetch, M. L., & Sturdy, C. B. (2005). Spatial encoding in mountain chickadees: Features overshadow geometry. Biology Letters, 1, 314-317.
35. Hamilton, D. A., & Sutherland, R. J. (1999). Blocking in human place learning: Evidence from virtual navigation. Psychobiology, 27, 453-461.
36. Hardt, O., Hupbach, A., & Nadel, L. (2009). Factors moderating blocking in human place learning: The role of task instructions. Learning & Behavior, 37, 42-59.
37. Hermer, L., & Spelke, E. (1994). A geometric process for spatial representation in young children. Nature, 370, 57-59.
38. Hermer, L., & Spelke, E. (1996). Modularity and development: The case of spatial reorientation. Cognition, 61, 195-232.
39. Hermer-Vazquez, L., Moffet, A., & Munkholm, P. (2001). Language, space, and the development of cognitive flexibility in humans: The case of two spatial memory tasks. Cognition, 79, 263-299.
40. Hermer-Vazquez, L., Spelke, E., & Katsnelson, A. (1999). Sources of flexibility in human cognition: Dual task studies of space and language. Cognitive Psychology, 39, 3-36.
41. Horne, M. R., & Pearce, J. M. (2009). A landmark blocks searching for a hidden platform in an environment with a distinctive shape after extended pretraining. Learning & Behavior, 37, 167-178.
42. Hull, C. L. (1943). Principles of behavior. An introduction to behavior theory. New York: Appleton-Century.
43. Hupbach, A., Hardt, O., Nadel, L., & Bohbot, V. D. (2007). Spatial reorientation: Effects of verbal and spatial shadowing. Spatial Cognition and Computation, 7, 213-226.
44. Hupbach, A., & Nadel, L. (2005). Reorientation in a rhombic environment: No evidence for an encapsulated geometric module. Cognitive Development, 20, 279-302.
45. Huttenlocher, J., & Lourenco, S. F. (2007). Coding location in enclosed spaces: Is geometry the principle? Developmental Science, 10, 741-746.
46. Huttenlocher, J., & Vasilyeva, M. (2003). How toddlers represent enclosed spaces. Cognitive Science, 27, 749-766.
47. Jonasson, Z. (2005). Meta-analysis of sex differences in rodent models of learning and memory: A review of behavioral and biological data. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 28, 811-825.
48. Karmiloff-Smith, A. (1992). Beyond modularity: A developmental perspective on cognitive science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
49. Kelly, D. M., Spetch, M. L., & Heth, C. D. (1998). Pigeons' (Columba livia) encoding of geometric and featural properties of a spatial environment. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 112, 259-269.
50. Kinzler, K. D., & Spelke, E. S. (2007). Core systems in human cognition. Progress in Brain Research, 164, 257-264.
51. Kjelstrup, K. B., Solstad, T., Brun, V. H., Hafting, T., Leutgeb, S., Witter, M. P., Moser, E. I., Moser, M. B. (2008). Finite scale of spatial representation in the hippocampus. Science, 321, 140-143.
52. Landau, B., & Lakusta, L. (2009). Spatial representation across species: Geometry, language, and maps. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 19, 1-8.
53. Learmonth, A. E., Nadel, L., & Newcombe, N. S. (2002). Children's use of landmarks: Implications for modularity theory. Psychological Science, 13, 337-341.
54. Learmonth, A. E., Newcombe, N. S., & Huttenlocher, J. (2001). Toddler's use of metric information and landmarks to reorient. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 80, 225-244.
55. Learmonth, A., Newcombe, N. S., Sheridan, M., & Jones, M. (2008). Why size counts: Children's spatial reorientation in large and small enclosures. Developmental Science, 11, 414-426.
56. Lee, S. A., Shusterman, A., & Spelke, E. S. (2006). Reorientation and landmark-guided search by young children: Evidence for two systems. Psychological Science, 17, 577-582.
57. Lee, S. A., & Spelke, E. S. (2008). Children's use of geometry for reorientation. Developmental Science, 11, 743-749.
58. Levinson, S. C. (2003). Space in language and cognition. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
59. Lew, A. R., Foster, K. A., & Bremner, J. G. (2006). Disorientation inhibits landmark use in 12- to 18-month-old infants. Infant Behavior & Development, 29, 334-341.
60. Lew, A. R., Gibbons, B., Murphy, C., & Bremmer, J. G. (2009). Use of geometry for spatial reorientation in children applies only to symmetric spaces. Developmental Science, doi.
61. Lourenco, S. F., Addy, D., & Huttenlocher, J. (2009). Location representation in enclosed spaces: What types of information afford young children an advantage? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 104, 313-325.
62. Maes, J. H. R., Fontanari, L., & Regolin, L. (2009). Spatial reorientation in rats (Rattus norvegicus): Use of geometric and featural information as a function of arena size and feature location. Behavioural Brain Research, 201, 285-291.
63. McComas, J., & Dulberg, C. (1997). Children's memory for locations visited: Importance of movement and choice. Journal of Motor Behavior, 29, 223-230.
64. Miller, N. (2009). Modeling the effects of enclosure size on geometry learning. Behavioural Processes, 80, 306-313.
65. Miller, N. Y., & Shettleworth, S .J. (2008). An associative model of geometry learing: A modified choice rule. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Animal Behavior Processes, 34, 419-422.
66. Miller, N. Y., & Shettleworth, S. J. (2007). Learning about environmental geometry: An associative model. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Animal Behavior Processes, 33, 191-212.
67. Nadel, L., & Hupbach, A. (2006). Cross-species comparisons in development: The case of the spatial "module". In M. H. Johnson & Y. Munakata (Eds.), Attention and performance XXI (pp. 499-512). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
68. Nardi, D., & Bingman, V. P. (2009). Pigeon (Columba livia) encoding of a goal location: The relative importance of shape geometry and slope information. Journal of Comparative Cognition, 123, 204-216.
69. Nardini, M., Atkinson, J., & Burgess, N. (2008). Children reorient using the left/right sense of coloured landmarks at 18-24 months. Cognition, 106, 519-527.
70. Nardini, M., Thomas, R. L., Knowland, V. C. P., Braddick, O. J., & Atkinson, J. (2009). A viewpoint-independent process for spatial reorientation. Cognition, 112, 241-248.
71. Newcombe, N. S. (2005). Language as destiny? Or not-Essay review of space in language and cognition: Explorations in cognitive diversity by Stephen C. Levinson. Human Development, 48, 309-314.
72. Newcombe, N. S., & Huttenlocher, J. (2006). Development of spatial cognition. In W. Damon & R. Lerner (Series Eds.) and D. Kuhn & R. Seigler (Vol. Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 2. Cognition, perception and language, 6th ed. (pp. 734-776). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
73. Newcombe, N. S., & Ratliff, K. R. (2007). Explaining the development of spatial reorientation: Modularity-plus-language versus the emergence of adaptive combination. In J. Plumer & J. Spencer (Eds.), The emerging spatial mind (pp. 53-76). New York: Oxford University Press.
74. Newcombe, N. S., Ratliff, K. R., Shallcross, W. L., & Twyman, A. (2009). Young children really can reorient using features: Further evidence against a modular view of spatial processing. Developmental Science, 5, 1-8.
75. Pearce, J. M., Graham, M., Good, M. A., Jones, P. M., & McGregor, A. (2004). Transfer of spatial behavior between different environments: Implications for theories of spatial learning and for the role of the hippocampus in spatial learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 30, 135-147.
76. Pearce, J. M., Graham, M., Good, M. A., Jones, P. M., & McGregor, A. (2006). Potentiation, overshadowing, and blocking of spatial learning based on the shape of the environment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 32, 201-214.
77. Presson, C. C., & Montello, D. R. (1988). Points of reference in spatial cognition: Stalking the elusive landmark. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 6, 378-381.
78. Ratliff, K. R., & Newcombe, N. S. (2008a). Is language necessary for human spatial reorientation? Reconsidering evidence from dual task paradigms. Cognitive Psychology, 56, 142-163.
79. Ratliff, K. R., & Newcombe, N. S. (2008b). Reorienting when cues conflict: Evidence for an adaptive combination view. Psychological Science, 19, 1301-1307.
80. Rescorla, R. A., & Wagner, A. R. (1972). A theory of Pavlovian conditioning: Variations in the effectiveness of reinforcement and nonreinforcement. In A. G. Black & W. F. Prokasy (Eds.), Classical conditioning II: Current research and theory (pp. 64-99). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
81. Roberts, A. D. L., & Pearce, J. M. (1999). Blocking in the Morris swimming pool. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Animal Behavior Processes, 25, 225-235.
82. Rodrigo, T., Chamizo, V. D., McLaren, I. P. L., & Mackintosh, N. J. (1997). Blocking in the spatial domain. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Animal Behavior Processes, 23, 110-118.
83. Sheynikhovich, D., Chavarriaga, R., Strösslin, T., Arleo, A., & Gerstner, W. (2009). Is there a geometric module for spatial orientation? Insights from a rodent navigation model. Psychological Review, 116, 540-566.
84. Shusterman, A., & Spelke, E. S. (2005). Language and the development of spatial reasoning. In P. Carruthers, S. Laurene, & S. Stich (Eds.), The innate mind: Structure and contents (pp. 89-106). New York: Oxford University Press.
85. Siegler, R. S. (1996). Emerging minds: The process of change in children's thinking. New York: Oxford University Press.
86. Smith, A. D., Gilchrist, I. D., Cater, K., Ikram, N., Nott, K., & Hood, B. M. (2008). Reorientation in the real world: The development of landmark use and integration in a natural environment. Cognition, 107, 1102-1111.
87. Solstad, T., Boccara, C. N., Kropff, E., Moser, M., & Moser, E. I. (2008). Representation of geometric borders in the entorhinal cortex. Science, 322, 1865-1868.
88. Sovrano, V. A., Bisazza, A., & Vallortigara, G. (2007). How fish do geometry in large and in small spaces. Animal Cognition, 10, 47-54.
89. Sovrano, V. A., & Vallortigara, G. (2006). Dissecting the geometric module: A sense-linkage for metric and landmark information in animals' spatial reorientation. Psychological Science, 17, 616-621.
90. Spelke, E. S. (2008). The theory of "core knowledge." Annee Psychologique, 108, 721-756.
91. Spelke, E. S., & Kinzler, K. D. (2007). Core knowledge. Developmental Science, 10, 89-96.
92. Spetch, M. L. (1995). Overshadowing in landmark learning-touch-screen studies with pigeons and humans. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Animal Behavior Processes, 21, 166-181.
93. Sturzl, W., Cheung, A., Cheng, K., & Zeil, J. (2008). The information content of panoramic images I: The rorational error and the similarity of view in rectangular experimental arenas. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavioral Processes, 34, 1-14.
94. Taube, J. S. (1998). Head direction cells and the neurophysiological basis for a sense of direction. Progress in Neurobiology, 55, 225-256.
95. Tolman, E. C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological Review, 55, 189-208.
96. Twyman, A., Friedman, A., & Spetch, M. L. (2007). Penetrating the geometric module: Catalyzing children's use of landmarks. Developmental Psychology, 43, 1523-1530.
97. Twyman, A., Newcombe, N. S., & Gould, T. J (2009). Tale of two cities: Rearing environment influences spatial reorientation. In S. E. MacDonald (Chair), Foraging and the evolution of cognition. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the APA convention, Toronto, Canada.
98. Twyman, A., Newcombe, N. S., & Gould, T. J. (2009). Of mice (Mus musculus) and toddlers (Homo sapiens): Evidence against modularity in spatial reorientation. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 123, 342-345.
99. Vallortigara, G., Sovrano, V. A., & Chiandetti, C. (2009). Doing Socrates experiment right: Controlled rearing studies of geometrical knowledge in animals. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 19, 20-26.
100. Vallortigara, G., Zanforlin, M., & Pasti, G. (1990). Geometric modules in animals' spatial representations: A test with chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 104, 248-254.
101. Vlasak, V. A. (2006). The relative importance of global and local landmarks in navigation by Columbian ground squirrels (Spermophilus columbianus). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 120, 131-138.
102. Wall, P. L., Botly, L. C. P., Black, C. K., & Shettleworth, S. J. (2004). The geometric module in the rat: Independence of shape and feature learning in a food finding task. Learning & Behavior, 32, 289-298.
103. Williams, C. L., Barnett, A. M., & Meck, W. H. (1990). Organizational effects of early gonadal secretions on sexual-differentiation in spatial memory. Behavioral Neuroscience, 104, 84-97.
104. Woodruff-Pak, D., Papka, M., & Ivry, R. (1996). Cerebellar involvement in eyeblink classical conditioning in humans. Neuropsychology, 10, 443-458.
105. Wystrach, A., & Beugnon, G. (2009). Ants learn geometry and features. Current Biology, 19, 61-66.