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1. Variation in spatial concepts: Different frames of reference on different axes.

   Pitt, B.; Carstensen, A.; Gibson, E.; Piantadosi, S. (July 2021, Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society)

   T. Fitch; C. Lamm; H. Leder; K. Tessmar (Ed.)

   The physical properties of space may be universal, but the way people conceptualize space is not. In some groups, people tend to use egocentric space (e.g. left, right) to encode the loca- tions of objects, while in other groups, people encode the same spatial scene using allocentric space (e.g. upriver, downriver). These different spatial Frames of Reference (FoRs) character- ize the way people talk about spatial relations and the way they think about them, even when they are not using language. Al- though spatial language and spatial thinking tend to covary, the root causes of this variation are unclear. Here we propose that this variation in FoR use reflects the spatial discriminability of the relevant spatial continua. In an initial test of this proposal in a group of indigenous Bolivians, we compared FoR use across spatial axes that are known to differ in discriminabil- ity. In two non-verbal tests, participants spontaneously used different FoRs on different spatial axes: On the lateral axis, where egocentric (left-right) discrimination is difficult, their behavior was predominantly allocentric; on the sagittal axis, where egocentric (front-back) discrimination is relatively easy, their behavior was predominantly egocentric. These findings support the spatial discriminability hypothesis, which may ex- plain variation in spatial concepts not only across axes, but also across groups, between individuals, and over development. 

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2. Variation in spatial concepts: Different frames of reference on different axes

   Benjamin Pitt; Alexandra Carstensen; Edward Gibson; Steven T. Piantadosi (July 2021, Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society)

   Tecumseh Fitch; Claus Lamm; Helmut Leder; Kristin Tessmar-Raible (Ed.)

   Spatial language and cognition vary across contexts. In some groups, people tend to use egocentric space (e.g. left, right) to encode the locations of objects, while in other groups, people use allocentric space (e.g. upriver, downriver) to describe the same spatial scene. These different spatial Frames of Reference (FoRs) characterize both the way people talk about spatial relations and the way they think about them, even when they are not using language. These patterns of spatial language and spatial thinking tend to covary, but the root causes of this variation are unclear. Here we propose that this variation in FoR use reflects variation in the spatial discriminability of the relevant spatial continua. In an initial test of this proposal, we compared FoR use across spatial axes that are known to differ in discriminability. In two non-verbal tests, a group of indigenous Bolivians used different FoRs on different spatial axes; on the lateral axis, where egocentric (left-right) discrimination is difficult, their behavior was predominantly allocentric; on the sagittal axis, where egocentric (front-back) discrimination is relatively easy, their behavior was predominantly egocentric. These findings support the spatial discriminability hypothesis, which may explain variation in spatial concepts not only across axes, but also across groups, between individuals, and over development. 

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3. Vastly Different Heights of LLVPs Caused by Different Strengths of Historical Slab Push

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099564  

   Yuan, Qian; Li, Mingming (September 2022, Geophysical Research Letters)

   Abstract Two large low velocity provinces (LLVPs) are observed in Earth's lower mantle, beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean, respectively. The maximum height of the African LLVP is ∼1,000 km larger than that of the Pacific LLVP, but what causes this height difference remains unclear. LLVPs are often interpreted as thermochemical piles whose morphology is greatly controlled by the surrounding mantle flow. Seismic observations have revealed that while some subducted slabs are laterally deflected at ∼660–1,200 km, other slabs penetrate into the lowermost mantle. Here, through geodynamic modeling experiments, we show that rapid sinking of stagnant slabs to the lowermost mantle can cause significant height increases of nearby thermochemical piles. Our results suggest that the African LLVP may have been pushed more strongly and longer by surrounding mantle flows to reach a much shallower depth than the Pacific LLVP, perhaps since the Tethys slabs sank to the lowermost mantle. 

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4. Different places, different problems: profiles of crime and disorder at residential parcels

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s40163-022-00165-0  

   O’Brien, Daniel T.; Ristea, Alina; Hangen, Forrest; Tucker, Riley (June 2022, Crime Science)

   Abstract Certain places generate inordinate amounts of crime and disorder. We examine how places differ in their nature of crime and disorder, with three objectives: (1) identifying a typology of profiles of crime and disorder; (2) assessing whether different forms of crime and disorder co-locate at parcels; and (3) determining whether problematic parcels explain crime and disorder across neighborhoods. The study uses 911 and 311 records to quantify physical and social disorder and violent crime at residential parcels in Boston, MA (n = 81,673). K-means cluster analyses identified the typology of problematic parcels and how those types were distributed across census block groups. Cluster analysis identified five types of problematic parcels, four specializing in one form of crime or disorder and one that combined all issues. The second cluster analysis found that the distribution of problematic parcels described the spectrum from low- to high-crime neighborhoods, plus commercial districts with many parcels with public physical disorder. Problematic parcels modestly explained levels of crime across neighborhoods. The results suggest a need for diverse intervention strategies to support different types of problematic parcels; and that neighborhood dynamics pertaining to crime are greater than problematic properties alone. 

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5. Plasmodesmata in phloem: different gateways for different cargoes

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2018.04.014  

   Lee, Jung-Youn; Frank, Margaret (June 2018, Current Opinion in Plant Biology)