Function, geometry and spatial prepositions: Three experiments

In this paper the results of three experiments are reported which address the issue of the relative extent to which functional relations versus geometric relations affect spatial language. The experiments examine the role of a discourse context on the use and rating of the preposition in to describe a visual scene where the constraint of spatial containment between figure (object located) and ground (reference object) does not hold. All three experiments demonstrate that in is used more and rated to be significantly more appropriate in a functional context than in a no context condition. The implications of these studies for spatial language and spatial representation are discussed.