This volume is the outcome of a Symposium held in Lyon, France. The meeting was organized under the auspices of the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM, Paris). We are grateful to the Universite Claude-Bernard which allowed us to use the house of the Brothers Lumiere for the site of the meeting. We would also like to acknowledge the generosity of the Fondation Merieux (Lyon) which pro vided us with a reception at the house where Claude Bernard was born. In addition to the authors ofthis volume we wish to thank the following individuals for their contributions to the success ofthe Symposium: Chris tine Baleydier, Simon Faugier-Grimaud, Francoise Girardet, Jacqueline Jeannerod, Henry Kennedy, Michele Magnin, Claude Prablanc, Kath erine Page, Lawrence Stark and Francois Vital-Durand. Support from the Office of Naval Research (Contract # N00014-80-K- 0243), the National Eye Institute (Grant # 1 P30-EY02621), the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (Paris) and Sherin Stahl, a participant in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology made this volume possible."

This major study of animal orientation in space launches the Princeton Series in Neurobiology and Behavior. Bringing together for the first time the important work done on spatial orientation over the past twenty-five years, and reviewing research up to and including recent attempts to apply the methods of cybernetics, Hermann Schone discusses the most significant concepts in the control of position and movement in space. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

How do people know where in the world they are? How do they find their way about? These are the sort of questions about spatial orientation with which this book is concerned. Staying spatially oriented is a pervasive aspect of all be havior. Animals must find their way through their environ ment searching efficiently for food and returning to their home areas and many species have developed very sophisticated sensing apparatus for helping them do this. Even little children know their way around quite complex environments. They remember where they put things and are able to retrieve them with little trouble. Adults in societies across the world have developed complex navigational systems for help ing them find their way over long distances with few dis tinctive landmarks. People across the world use their langu ages to communicate about spatial orientation in problems of simple direction giving and spatial descriptions as well as problems of long range navigation.

Studies of the disruption and relearning of sensorimotor relationships were completed and a theoretical position formulated: (1) Transformations created by perceptual rearrangement and disarrangement experiments change relationships between two or more kinds of spatial information which are normally congruent or concordant. (2) To execute accurate spatially oriented behavior under transformed conditions, the observer must solve the problem of defining the transformation: (a) an adequate amount of relevant information must be available to him and he must be able to assimilate it; (b) information may be supplied through any sensory channel or combination or may derive from memory or cognition; (c) he may be unsuccessful or only partially successful. (3) The problem is solved by inserting into the sensorimotor system a constant which compensates for the experimental transformation. This approach is generally applicable and confers the power of prediction and control whereas other theories which have been proposed do not meet these tests. (Author).

This major study of animal orientation in space launches the Princeton Series in Neurobiology and Behavior. Bringing together for the first time the important work done on spatial orientation over the past twenty-five years, and reviewing research up to and including recent attempts to apply the methods of cybernetics, Hermann Schone discusses the most significant concepts in the control of position and movement in space. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute, La-Baume-les-Aix (Aix-en-Provence), France, June 27-July 7, 1985