Perceptual maps

Nestrud, M. A. and Lawless, H. T. (2008). Perceptual mapping of citrus juices using projective mapping and profiling data from cuUnary professionals and consumers. Food Quality and Preference, 19, 431-438. 

Perceptual maps based on open-ended questions... 

In spatial OSDs the flow of events and symbols is overlaid on a map of all items of equipment with which the operator interacts during the task. The map itself does not have to be very accurate, provided that the general geographical relationships among items of equipment are shown. The spatial OSD thus provides a graphical description of the perceptual-motor load a particular task imposes on the performance of the worker. For multiperson tasks, the operational sequences for several workers can be coded in different colors and superimposed onto the same equipment map. This can generate useful information for the distribution of tasks to different members of the operating team. 

The perceptual model as developed in this chapter is used to map the input and output of the audio device onto internal representations that are as close as possible to the internal representations used by the subject to judge the quality of the audio device. It is shown that the difference in internal representation can form the basis of a perceptual audio quality measure (PAQM) that has a high correlation with the subjectively perceived audio quality. Furthermore it is shown that with a simple cognitive module that interprets the difference in internal representation the correlation between objective and subjective results is always above 0.9 for both wideband music and telephone-band speech signals. For the measurement of the quality of telephone-band speech codecs a simplified version of the PAQM, the perceptual speech quality measure (PSQM), is presented. 

In the internal representation approach the quality of an audio device is measured by mapping the reference and output of the device from the physical signal representation (measured in dB, seconds, Hertz) onto a psychoacoustic (internal) representation (measured in compressed Sone, seconds, Bark). From the difference in internal representation the perceptual audio quality measure (PAQM) can be calculated which shows good correlation with the subjectively perceived audio quality. 

Unlike iconicity and associations, mappings of conceptual and spatial schemas based on polarity do not rely on perceptual resemblance, nor on previously experienced pairings between attributes and objects. Instead, polarity is based on the organizational structure underlying many perceptual and conceptual dimensions. Polarity constrains mappings of spatial and conceptual schemas when a spatial representation shares oppositional structure or directionality of dimension with the concept being represented. A simple way to envision this oppositional structure is as a continuum with asymmetrically weighted ends. 

Iconicity constrains mapping when the spatial representation maintains some perceptual characteristics of the object or set of objects it represents. Associations constrain mapping when the spatial representation shares some properties with the object or concept being represented. 

Tversky, B., Kugelmass, S., and Winter, A. (1991). Cross-cultural and developmental trends in graphic productions. Cognitive Psychology, 23, 515-557. Tversky, B., and Schiano, D. (1989). Perceptual and conceptual factors in distortions in memory for maps and graphs. Journal of Experimental Psychology General, 118, 387-398. 

Second, consciousness, by which I mean that enormously elaborated, habituated, conditioned system of perception, thought, and feeling which we normally experience as our mind, has, as one of its primary functions, the simulation of the environment. Consciousness, particularly its perceptual aspects, creates an internal representation of the outside world, such that we have a good-quality map of the world and our place in it. 

These results suggest that convergence mapping, combined with IR absorption spectra, may be an appropriate method to capture perceptual characteristics of certain classes of odorants. 

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