Grounding spatial language in perception: An empirical and computational investigation

The present paper grounds the linguistic categorization of space in aspects of visual perception; specifically, the structure of projective spatial te rms such as above are grounded in the process of attention and in vector-su m coding of overall direction. This is formalized in the attentional vector -sum (AVS) model. This computational model accurately predicts linguistic a cceptability judgments for spatial terms, under a variety of spatial config urations. In 7 experiments, the predictions of the AVS model are tested aga inst those of 3 competing models. The results support the AVS model and dis confirm its competitors. The authors conclude that the structure of linguis tic spatial categories can be partially explained in terms of independently motivated perceptual processes.