• Physics versus graphics as an...

Treffer: Physics versus graphics as an organizing dichotomy in cognition.

Title:
Physics versus graphics as an organizing dichotomy in cognition.
Authors:
Balaban H; Department of Education and Psychology, The Open University of Israel, Raanana 4353701, Israel., Ullman TD; Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: tullman@fas.harvard.edu.
Source:
Trends in cognitive sciences [Trends Cogn Sci] 2025 Nov; Vol. 29 (11), pp. 985-996. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 May 31.
Publication Type:
Journal Article; Review
Language:
English
Journal Info:
Publisher: Elsevier Science Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9708669 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-307X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 13646613 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Trends Cogn Sci Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s):
Original Publication: Kidlington, Oxford, UK : Elsevier Science, c1997-
MeSH Terms:
Cognition*/physiology , Computer Graphics* , Physics*, Humans ; Cognitive Science
Contributed Indexing:
Keywords: aphantasia; imagery; imagination; intuitive physics; mental simulation
Entry Date(s):
Date Created: 20250601 Date Completed: 20251106 Latest Revision: 20251107
Update Code:
20251108
DOI:
10.1016/j.tics.2025.05.003
PMID:
40451712
Database:
MEDLINE

Weitere Informationen

People build world models that simulate the dynamics of the real world. They do so in engineered systems for the purposes of scientific understanding or recreation, as well as in intuitive reasoning to predict and explain the environment. On the basis of a major split in the simulation of real-time dynamics in engineered systems, we argue that people's intuitive mental simulation includes a basic split between physical simulation and graphical rendering. We first show how the separation between physics and graphics relies on a natural division of labor in any cognitive system. We then use the physics/graphics distinction to tie together and explain a range of classic and recent findings across different domains in cognitive science and neuroscience, including aphantasia and imagery, different visual streams, and object tracking.
(Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests.