Dengue Disease Risk Mental Models in the City of Dhaka, Bangladesh: Juxtapositions and Gaps Between the Public and Experts.

Worldwide, more than 50 million cases of dengue fever are reported every year in at least 124 countries, and it is estimated that approximately 2.5 billion people are at risk for dengue infection. In Bangladesh, the recurrence of dengue has become a growing public health threat. Notably, knowledge and perceptions of dengue disease risk, particularly among the public, are not well understood. Recognizing the importance of assessing risk perception, we adopted a comparative approach to examine a generic methodology to assess diverse sets of beliefs related to dengue disease risk. Our study mapped existing knowledge structures regarding the risk associated with dengue virus, its vector (Aedes mosquitoes), water container use, and human activities in the city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. "Public mental models" were developed from interviews and focus group discussions with diverse community groups; "expert mental models" were formulated based on open-ended discussions with experts in the pertinent fields. A comparative assessment of the public's and experts' knowledge and perception of dengue disease risk has revealed significant gaps in the perception of: (a) disease risk indicators and measurements; (b) disease severity; (c) control of disease spread; and (d) the institutions responsible for intervention. This assessment further identifies misconceptions in public perception regarding: (a) causes of dengue disease; (b) dengue disease symptoms; (c) dengue disease severity; (d) dengue vector ecology; and (e) dengue disease transmission. Based on these results, recommendations are put forward for improving communication of dengue risk and practicing local community engagement and knowledge enhancement in Bangladesh.

EXPRESS: On prior visual experience in mental map navigation using allocentric and egocentric perspectives in the visually impaired.

Using new developments in the mental comparison task paradigm, this study addresses the question of the influence of prior visual experience in the natural use of mental perspective to achieve mental spatial tasks without any protocol-imposed perspective. During the experiment, 39 participants (11 early blind, 13 late blind, and 15 blindfolded-sighted) explored two corridor maps to memorise the spatial arrangement of 10 objects disposed along corridors. After the learning phase, several tasks addressing spatial memory and reasoning used in the mental spatial representation were performed. Blindfolded-sighted participants preferred an egocentric perspective, while the two visually impaired groups showed no overriding preference between egocentric and allocentric perspectives. Results showed a performance advantage for egocentric over allocentric perspectives, regardless of visual experience. Our results shed light on previous assumptions regarding cognitive mental map construction, suggesting the need to reflect on previous results and their dependence on imposed mental perspectives.

Mapping the mental space of emotional concepts through kinematic measures of decision uncertainty.

Emotional concepts and their mental representations have been extensively studied. Yet, some ecologically relevant aspects, such as how they are processed in ambiguous contexts (e.g., in relation to other emotional stimuli that share similar characteristics), are incompletely known. We employed a similarity judgement of emotional concepts and manipulated the contextual congruency of the responses along the two main affective dimensions of hedonic valence and physiological activation, respectively. Behavioural and kinematics (mouse-tracking) measures were combined to gather a novel 'similarity index' between emotional concepts, to derive topographical maps of their mental representations. Self-report (interoceptive sensibility, positive-negative affectivity, depression) and physiological measures (heart rate variability, HRV) have been collected to explore their possible association with emotional conceptual representation. Results indicate that emotional concepts typically associated with low arousal profit by contextual congruency, with faster responses and reduced uncertainty when contextual ambiguity decreases. The emotional maps recreate two almost orthogonal axes of valence and arousal, and the similarity measure captures the smooth boundaries between emotions. The emotional map of a subgroup of individuals with low positive affectivity reveals a narrower conceptual distribution, with variations in positive emotions and in individuals with reduced arousal (such as those with reduced HRV). Our work introduces a novel methodology to study emotional conceptual representations, bringing the behavioural dynamics of decision-making processes and choice uncertainty into the affective domain. This article is part of the theme issue 'Concepts in interaction: social engagement and inner experiences'.

"Mental maps": Between memorial transcription and symbolic projection.

"The mental map" is a concept that has been used and defined in numerous ways. The cognitive map, and the concept map-also known as the "heuristic" or "mind" map-are the two distinct contextual meanings covered by the term mental map in the present article. In the mental map domain, the first major field of study is geography, spatial cognition, and neurophysiology and it aims to understand how the route taken by a subject (or a set of subjects) in space leads to memorization and internal representation(s). In general, the externalization of these representations takes the form of drawings, positioning in a graph, or oral/textual narratives, but it is primarily reflected as a behavior in space that can be recorded as tracking items. A second field of study, one which is geared more toward exploratory and combinatorial uses, is the concept (also heuristic or mind) map which consists in organizing notions, concepts, and information in the form of tree graphs or graphs that can be used to produce diagrams and flowcharts. The aim is projective, for clarification and discovery purposes or for data organization and visualization. To date, very few studies in the literature have examined the similar, overlapping and oppositional features in what is broadly referred to as "representation(s) of space" and "space(s) of representation." How can we better apprehend the complex notion of "mental map?" The question of memorial transcription? Of "symbolic projection?" Can we identify meeting points between these two polarities and, if possible, a continuum? Through the notion of cognitive graph, recent advances in the understanding of brain mechanisms enable us to approach the distinctions between cognitive map and conceptual map as an articulated and continuous whole.

The combination of the horizontal and vertical dimensions in mental time representation: the existence of a spatial mental map of time.

Horizontal and vertical representations of time (past-left or down and future-right or top) have been demonstrated. However, only a few studies have investigated the existence of a spatial map of time, considering it as the interaction of different spatial dimensions in space. The aim of this study was to investigate the existence of a mental time representation along the diagonal axes, intended as the combination of the horizontal and the vertical dimensions. Seventy-nine Italian participants (85% females; mean age = 25.11 ± 4.86 years; 77 right-handed) performed an online temporal judgment task using 20 Italian temporal expressions presented either always in the center (Experiment 1) or in the four corners of the screen (Experiment 2) and two pairs of response keys ("C" and "U" for the positive diagonal; "R" and "N" for the negative diagonal). Results showed spatial-temporal associations in positive (i.e., time was represented from left-bottom to right-top) and negative (i.e., time was represented from left-top to right-bottom) diagonals, although in Experiment 2 these associations were weak for the negative diagonal. These spatial-temporal associations along both diagonals were confirmed even when participants were free to place different temporal stimuli along a diagonally drawn line, in a Time-to-Position task, indicating that the temporal expressions could be ordered linearly along the diagonal spaces. Finally, these data indicated that the horizontal information was mainly used for determining the spatial-temporal associations along both diagonals, whereas the vertical information was flexible with a bottom-to-top (for positive diagonal) and top-to-bottom (for negative diagonal) temporal representation.

Jumping out of trouble: evidence for a cognitive map in guppies (Poecilia reticulata).

Spatial cognitive abilities allow individuals to remember the location of resources such as food patches, predator hide-outs, or shelters. Animals typically incorporate learned spatial information or use external environmental cues to navigate their surroundings. A spectacular example of how some fishes move is through aerial jumping. For instance, fish that are trapped within isolated pools, cut off from the main body of water during dry periods, may jump over obstacles and direct their jumps to return to safe locations. However, what information such re-orientation behavior during jumping is based on remains enigmatic. Here we combine a lab and field experiment to test if guppies (Poecilia reticulata) incorporate learned spatial information and external environmental cues (visual and auditory) to determine where to jump. In a spatial memory assay we found that guppies were more likely to jump towards deeper areas, hence incorporating past spatial information to jump to safety. In a matched versus mismatched spatial cue experiment in the field, we found that animals only showed directed jumping when visual and auditory cues matched. We show that in unfamiliar entrapments guppies direct their jumps by combining visual and auditory cues, whereas in familiar entrapments they use a cognitive map. We hence conclude that jumping behavior is a goal-directed behavior, guided by different sources of information and involving important spatial cognitive skills.

Agency, Ownership and the Potential Space.

The potential space, the space between the experiencer and the experience, is at the heart of Winnicott's theory. The concepts of agency of one's actions and ownership of one's experience have been recently applied to such a space lying in between the experiencing self and the mental (cognitive) map she creates, representing her surroundings. Agency is defined as "the sense that I am the one who is generating the experience represented on a mental map", while ownership is defined as "the sense that I am the one who is undergoing an experience, represented on a mental map". Here these concepts are introduced and applied to five main realizations of Winnicott's potential space: Playing, transitional phenomena, the therapeutic space, culture and creativity. Through theoretical constructs and clinical analyses, it is shown how agency and ownership, and their mutual interrelations, may help to better understand Winnicott's theory with implications to clinical practice.

Mental-Map Preserving Visualisation of Partitioned Networks in Vanted.

Biological networks can be large and complex, often consisting of different sub-networks or parts. Separation of networks into parts, network partitioning and layouts of overview and sub-graphs are of importance for understandable visualisations of those networks. This article presents NetPartVis to visualise non-overlapping clusters or partitions of graphs in the Vanted framework based on a method for laying out overview graph and several sub-graphs (partitions) in a coordinated, mental-map preserving way.

Virtual environment navigation with look-around mode to explore new real spaces by people who are blind.

BACKGROUND: This paper examines the ability of people who are blind to construct a mental map and perform orientation tasks in real space by using Nintendo Wii technologies to explore virtual environments. The participant explores new spaces through haptic and auditory feedback triggered by pointing or walking in the virtual environments and later constructs a mental map, which can be used to navigate in real space. METHODS: The study included 10 participants who were congenitally or adventitiously blind, divided into experimental and control groups. The research was implemented by using virtual environments exploration and orientation tasks in real spaces, using both qualitative and quantitative methods in its methodology. RESULTS: The results show that the mode of exploration afforded to the experimental group is radically new in orientation and mobility training; as a result 60% of the experimental participants constructed mental maps that were based on map model, compared with only 30% of the control group participants. CONCLUSIONS: Using technology that enabled them to explore and to collect spatial information in a way that does not exist in real space influenced the ability of the experimental group to construct a mental map based on the map model. Implications for rehabilitation The virtual cane system for the first time enables people who are blind to explore and collect spatial information via the look-around mode in addition to the walk-around mode. People who are blind prefer to use look-around mode to explore new spaces, as opposed to the walking mode. Although the look-around mode requires users to establish a complex collecting and processing procedure for the spatial data, people who are blind using this mode are able to construct a mental map as a map model. For people who are blind (as for the sighted) construction of a mental map based on map model offers more flexibility in choosing a walking path in a real space, accounting for changes that occur in the space.