Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!phri!dasys1!jzitt
From: jzitt@dasys1.UUCP (Joe Zitt)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: spatial reference in natural language
Message-ID: <2253@dasys1.UUCP>
Date: 17 Dec 87 16:40:20 GMT
References: <6818@sunybcs.UUCP> <1557@brahma.cs.hw.ac.uk>
Organization: The Big Electric Cat
Lines: 26

In article <1557@brahma.cs.hw.ac.uk>, jack@cs.hw.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
> 
> There is one kind of spatial language you want to avoid AT ALL COSTS in anything
> that will be interacting with car drivers (or people controlling other fast and
> dangerous machines) - "left" and "right". I can't remember the exact source
> for this, but it has been shown that it is very much harder for people to map 
> these words onto specific spatial directions than to react to a pointing finger
> or equivalent. (this is certainly true for me - if I'm navigating for someone
> driving fast through town, I can't give accurate directions verbally; I have to
> point). I believe there is a great deal of  variation in people's ability
> to do this.

I agree with this in part -- I have extreme difficulty mapping the words "Right"
and "Left" on to the proper directions, and am wrong as often as not.  (I also
have similar problems at times when dealing with abstraction such as "higher
value", which, depending on context, can refer to either the greater number or 
a lesser number that appears higher on the list.)

However, when I do point or wave my hands, a driver's reaction usually is "Do
you want me to watch your hands or the road?"


-- 
Joe Zitt                         {allegra,philabs,cmcl2}!phri\
Big Electric Cat Public Unix           {bellcore,cmcl2}!cucard!dasys1!jzitt
New York, NY, USA                               {sun}!hoptoad/