Diagrammatic Reasoning and Mental Animation

Diagrammatic reasoning is the study of how people make inferences from visual spatial representations, either mental representations (visual-spatial images) or external representations (diagrams). Our research on diagrammatic reasoning has focused on mental animation, or how people infer physical processes (such as how a machine works) from static displays. In this work, we have argued that mental simulation is a strategy in diagrammatic reasoning. This type of reasoning can be dissociated from inference based on descriptive knowledge. Although it is frequently accompanied by imagery, this type of inference process is not a process of inspecting a holistic image in the 'mind's eye'. Instead mental simulations are constructed piecemeal, include representations of non-visible properties, and are used in conjunction with non-imagery processes such as task decomposition and rule based reasoning. Our current work on mental animation is examining which spatial abilities and processes are involved in animating complex mechanical systems and whether mental animation is qualitatively different when we are physically interacting with a machine and when we are merely reasoning about its behavior.

Publications

Hegarty, M., Mayer, S., Kriz, S. & Keehner, M. (2005). The role of gestures in mental animation. Spatial Cognition and Computation, 5, 333-356. [PDF]

Barkowsky, T., Freksa, C., Hegarty, M. & Lowe, R. (Eds.) (2005). Reasoning with mental and external diagrams: Computational modeling and spatial assistance. Papers from the AAAI Sping symposium. Menlo Park, CA: AAAI Press.

Hegarty, M. (2004). Mechanical reasoning as mental simulation. TRENDS in Cognitive Science, 8, 280-285. [PDF]

Hegarty, M., Meyer, B. & Narayanan, N. H. (Eds.) (2002). Diagrammatic representation and inference. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

Kozhevnikov. M. & Hegarty, M. A. (2001). Impetus Beliefs as Default Heuristics: Dissociation between Explicit and Implicit Knowledge about Motion. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 8, 439-453.

Hegarty, M. (2000). Capacity limits in diagrammatic reasoning. In M. Anderson, P. Cheng & V. Harslev (Eds.) Theory and application of diagrams. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 1889. Berlin: Springer.

Hegarty, M. & Steinhoff, K. (1997).  Use of diagrams as external memory in a mechanical reasoning task.  Learning and Individual Differences, 9, 19-42.

Sims, V. K. & Hegarty, M.  (1997). Mental animation in the visual-spatial sketchpad: Evidence from dual-task studies. Memory & Cognition, 25, 321-332.  

Schwartz, D. L. & Hegarty, M. (1996). Coordinating multiple representations for reasoning about mechanical devices. Proceedings of the AAAI Spring Symposium on Cognitive and Computational Models of Spatial Representation. Menlo Park, CA: AAAI Press.

Ferguson, E. L. & Hegarty, M. (1995).  Learning with real machines or diagrams: Application of knowledge to real-world problems.  Cognition and Instruction, 13(1), 129-160. 

Hegarty, M. & Narayanan, N. H. (1994). Visual reasoning in problem solving. Proceedings of the 16th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 982-984). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Hegarty, M. & Sims, V. K. (1994).  Individual differences in mental animation during mechanical reasoning. Memory & Cognition, 22, 411-430.

Hegarty, M. (1992).  Mental animation: Inferring motion from static diagrams of mechanical systems.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 18(5) 1084-1102.

Hegarty, M. (1992). The mechanics of comprehension and comprehension of mechanics.  In K. Rayner (Ed.) Eye movements and visual cognition: Scene perception and reading. New York: Springer Verlag.

Hegarty, M. (1991).  Knowledge and processes in mechanical problem solving. In R. J.Sternberg & P. A. Frensch (Eds.) Complex problem solving: Principles and mechanisms. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Hegarty, M., Just, M. A., & Morrison, I. R. (1988).  Mental models of mechanical systems: Individual differences in qualitative and quantitative reasoning.  Cognitive Psychology, 20, 19

Department of Psychology • University of California, Santa Barbara
Contact Mary Hegarty with questions. Created and maintained by Drew Dara-Abrams.