Dustin Stevens-Baier

Comp 449

Assignment 11& 12

1. Explain Jameson's notion of cognitive mapping.

Jameson's notion of cognitive mapping comes from a term that was used by Kevin Lynch in the Image of the City.  It is the conceptual models that people make to better understand the complex city landscapes that they live and work in. Jameson said that they are used to represent something that is to big and complex in scope to understand without it being broken down into simpler parts.

2. Explain what "perceived" and "conceived" spaces are.

Perceived spaces is surfaces.  It is material and needs social and physical processes for it to continue to existing.  Conceived space is the mental representations that we make.  It is the abstract ideas that we make up to explain things and apply to the world.

3. Explain what is meant by "hypermediacy".

Refers to the formal qualities of the computer interface. Typically it is GUI's that have dominated the landscape of computers with the advent of Windows.  Hypermediacy makes the interface more intuitive.

4. What was the main point of the article.

The main point of the article was to take a good deep look at games like Sim City and see if they are helpful tools that could be used to give one a better understanding of how these tasks were handled in real life or if they hindered that understanding.  In the hand he came to the conclusion that they hinder because in some ways it makes people to idealistic and simplistic view.  It doesn't take into consideration certain aspects like class and race and it defines happiness as something that is quantifiable and the measured the same for everybody.