Abstract
In a recent paper, Mammen (Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 50, 196–233, 2016a) brought novel arguments into the discussion concerning the importance of being able to single out and track objects through space and time. Mammen offered a formal account of two basic, yet distinct, ways in which we as human beings encounter objects in the real world, that is, sense and choice categories. In this paper I discuss aspects of his theory and in particular the Theorem of Correspondence. I shall attempt to argue that Mammen’s formal account is indeed a novel and powerful analytical generic tool allowing us to see the important relevance in different domains of being able to establish choice categories. Meanwhile, I will attempt to show that evidence from the so-called multiple object tracking studies -- even though these use highly artificial stimuli -- provide compelling evidence in support of Mammen’s formal account.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
For the sake of simplicity true duplicates are excluded in Mammen’s (2016b) model. If the identical objects in MOT studies should be considered true duplicates in a philosophical sense, then it does not change the verdict. Actually, it just makes the argument in support of Mammen’s theory even stronger, since the existence of true duplicates would increase the relevance and importance of being able to establish choice categories even further, as features would be ineffective.
References
Bruner, J. S., Goodnow, J. J., & Austin, G. A. (1956). A study of thinking. New York: Wiley.
Horowitz, T. S., Klieger, S. B., Fencsik, D. E., Yang, K. K., Alvarez, G. A., & Wolfe, J. M. (2007). Tracking unique objects. Perception & Psychophysics, 69, 172–184.
Kingo, O. S., & Krøjgaard, P. (2012). Object function facilitates infants’ object individuation in a manual search task. Journal of Cognition and Development, 13, 152–173.
Krøjgaard, P. (1999a). Spædbarnets erkendelse af objekters numeriske identitet, I: Problemstillingens relevans og en gennemgang af nogle centrale visual tracking studier [Infant’s cognition of objects’ numerical identity I: Relevance of the issue, and a review of some central visual tracking studies]. Nordisk Psykologi, 51, 1–15.
Krøjgaard, P. (1999b). Spædbarnets erkendelse af objekters numeriske identitet, II: E.S. Spelkes forskning, et uløst problem og perspektiver [Infant’s cognition of objects’ numerical identity II: The research by E.S. Spelke, an unsolved problem and perspectives]. Nordisk Psykologi, 51, 81–97.
Krøjgaard, P. (2001). Økologisk validitet og eksperimentel spædbarnsforskning [Ecological validity and experimental infant research]. Psyke & Logos, 22, 635–661.
Krøjgaard, P. (2009). The human ability to single out and track specific objects trough space and time: Origin and application. In H. Høgh-Olesen, P. Bertelsen, & J. Tønnesvang (Eds.), Human characteristics: Evolutionary perspectives on human mind and kind (pp. 89–116). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Krøjgaard, P. (2016). Keeping track of individuals: insights from developmental psychology. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 50, 264–276.
Mammen, J. (1996). Den menneskelige sans: Et essay om psykologiens genstandsområde The human sense: an essay on the object of psychology]. Copenhagen: Dansk Psykologisk Forlag (1st ed. 1983, 2nd ed. 1989).
Mammen, J. (2016a). Using a topological model in psychology: developing sense and choice categories. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 50, 196–233.
Mammen, J. (2016b). A plea for scientific ambition: Reply to commentaries from Martin Wieser, Nicolai Veresov, Asger Neumann, and Peter Krøjgaard. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 50, 368–381.
Mammen, J., & Mironenko, I. (2015). Activity theories and the ontology of psychology: learning from Danish and Russian experiences. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 49, 681–713.
Mendes, N., Rakoczy, H., & Call, J. (2008). Ape metaphysics: object individuation without language. Cognition, 106, 730–749.
Milner, A. D., & Goodale, M. A. (1995). The visual brain in action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Neumann, A. (2016). Looking for a symphony. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 50, 257–263.
Pylyshyn, Z. W. (1989). The role of location indexes in spatial perception: a sketch of the FINST spatial-index model. Cognition, 32, 65–97.
Pylyshyn, Z. W. (2001). Visual index, preconceptual objects, and situated vision. Cognition, 80, 127–158.
Pylyshyn, Z. W. (2004). Some puzzling findings in multiple object tracking: I. Tracking without keeping track of object identities. Visual Cognition, 11, 801–822.
Pylyshyn, Z. W. (2009). Perception, representation and the world: the FINST that binds. In D. Dedrick & L. M. Trick (Eds.), Computation, cognition and Pylyshyn (pp. 3–46). Cambridge: MIT Press.
Pylyshyn, Z. W., & Storm, R. W. (1988). Tracking multiple independent targets: Evidence for a parallel tracking mechanism. Spatial Vision, 3, 179–197.
Saint-Exupéry, A. (1996). The little prince. London: William Heinemann Ltd. (French version, 1945).
Santos, L. R., Sulkowski, G. M., Spaepen, G. M., & Hauser, M. D. (2002). Object individuation using property/kind information in rhesus macaques (Macata mulatta). Cognition, 83, 241–264.
Schaughnessy, J. J., Zechmeister, E. B., & Zechmeister, J. S. (2015). Research methods in psychology (10th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
Sears, C. R., & Pylyshyn, Z. W. (2000). Multiple object tracking and attentional processing. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54, 1–14.
Ungerleider, L.G., & Mishkin, M. (1982). Two cortical visual systems. In D.J. Ingle, M.A. Goodale, & R.J.W. Mansfield (Eds.), Analysis of visual behavior (pp. 549–586). Cambridge: MIT Press.
Van de Walle, G., Carey, S., & Prevor, M. (2000). Bases for objects individuation in infancy. Evidence from manual search. Journal of Cognition and Development, 1, 249–280.
Xu, F., & Baker, A. (2005). Object individuation in 10 month-old infants using a simplified manual search method. Journal of Cognition and Development, 6, 307–323.
Yantis, S. (1992). Multiple visual tracking: attention and perceptual organization. Cognitive Psychology, 24, 295–340.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
This study was funded Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF89) and by Velux Fonden (#10386). The author declares that he has no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by the author.
Additional information
This article was supported by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF89) and by Velux Fonden (#10,386). I thank Osman S. Kingo for thoughtful comments to a previous version of the manuscript.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krøjgaard, P. On the Theorem of Correspondence. Integr. psych. behav. 51, 29–38 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-016-9363-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-016-9363-5