BounCeS

Boundary conditions of conceptual spaces

Project overview

The ORA-7 funded project is bringing together investigators from labs from three countries:

Silke Göbel and Tom Hartley from York, United Kingdom
André Knops from Paris, France
Martin Fischer from Potsdam, Germany

The project aims to investigate the topographic structure underlying conceptual knowledge representations, with a focus on two major accounts: spatial versus non-spatial accounts.

We hypothesise that the way we learn and use concepts determine the way this knowledge is mapped (i.e., topographic structure) at the cognitive and neural level. This proposal aims to delineate the neural and cognitive principles underlying the acquisition and adaptation of conceptual content, starting from the number concept.

The project in York

The ESRC-funded York team focuses on the developmental aspect of delineating the spatial versus non-spatial nature of conceptual knowledge and defining the boundary conditions of conceptual knowledge. Specifically, we will investigate how signature effects of the numerical magnitude representation such as distance and size effects emerge and develop over the school years. Using newly acquired transitive series, we will also explore how development affects emerging shapes of conceptual knowledge. Studies will consist of a series of cross-sectional behavioural, eye- and motion tracking experiments with children aged 4 to 12 years and adults.