AAAI 2005 Spring Symposium Series

Reasoning with Mental and External Diagrams: Computational Modeling and Spatial Assistance

Stanford University, California March 21-23, 2005

Call for Participation

Symposium Description

The role of diagrammatic representations in reasoning processes has been investigated from three different interdisciplinary perspectives: from computational modeling, from spatial assistance, and with respect to the interplay of cognitive processes and external diagrams. All three fields have different foci of interest; however, the fields are closely related to each other.

The primary goal of this symposium is to bring together researchers to explore the role of diagrams in supporting intelligent reasoning processes in humans and technical systems, as well as in human-machine interaction. Participants are asked to provide thoughts on the integration of the three perspectives rather than just presenting specific results from one of the fields.

Sample questions of interest are:

how do mental representations and external diagrams influence each other while solving spatial problems?
how can computational cognitive models be used to better assess a user's cognitive needs in performing a spatial task?
how does knowledge about human imagery inform the process of designing and understanding external depictions?
what is the role of pictorial space as a representational medium for dealing with problems on various scales?
How does inspection of diagrammatic representations assist mental model building by novices and by experts?
How are dynamic aspects of spatial information conveyed in diagrams and how are they processed in mental images?

Besides examining the fundamental issues outlined above, we also aim to discuss practical scenarios and fields of application, such as in urban planning or architectural design, with respect to location-based services, or in instruction and education.

The symposium will be scheduled to provide extensive discussion time and group interactions. There will be a series of presentations with significant question-and-answer time, as well as topic-oriented group discussion sessions.

Submission Information

Please email submissions of 3-6 pages (preferably in AAAI format as PDF) to barkowsky@sfbtr8.uni-bremen.de. Submissions can be position statements, work in progress, or completed work. For information regarding the AAAI 2005 Spring Symposium Series see www.aaai.org/Symposia/Spring/2005.

Deadlines:	symposium submissions:	October 8, 2004
	notification of acceptance:	November 5, 2004
	camera-ready copies of contributions:	January 31, 2005

Organizing Committee

Thomas Barkowsky (co-chair) Universität Bremen Bremen, Germany barkowsky@sfbtr8.uni-bremen.de	Christian Freksa (co-chair) Universität Bremen Bremen, Germany freksa@sfbtr8.uni-bremen.de
Mary Hegarty (co-chair) University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California, USA hegarty@psych.ucsb.edu	Ric Lowe (co-chair) Curtin University of Technology Perth, Australia R.K.Lowe@curtin.edu.au
Michel Denis Université de Paris-Sud Paris, France Michel.Denis@limsi.fr	John S. Gero University of Sydney Sydney, Australia john@arch.usyd.edu.au
Daniel L. Schwartz Stanford University Stanford, California, USA Daniel.Schwartz@stanford.edu