Allothetic means being centred in people or places other than oneself. It has been defined as a process of "determining and maintaining a course or trajectory from one place to another.
It can be used as a navigational strategy among animals to aid in their survival.
It can also be a source of information for machines, particularly those
biologically-inspired models and is provided by a set of
laser rangefinder
A laser rangefinder, also known as a laser telemeter, is a rangefinder that uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by sending a laser pulse in ...
s,
sonars, or vision.
Allothetic is used in navigation models (e.g., of a rat in a maze) as in the phrase "allothetic map" to indicate that a global map, not orientated or centred on the subject was used, rather than
idiothetic, which means a
navigation system centred on the subject. Directional information may be sourced from familiar reference points such as the sun, stars, or the
Earth's magnetic field.
Allothetic cues are often employed with idiothetic information to achieve spatial behavior.
Their characteristics are complementary such as the way the latter can help address the allothetic information's perceptual
aliasing problem, which prevents an animal or a robot from distinguishing two places from each other.
Animal navigation
Animals can obtain the so-called pure allothetic navigation once it became familiar with fixed objects at specific locations.
Relationships among these objects, particularly permanent and semi-permanent objects, are also critical in guiding the animals' movements. These objects need to be asymmetrical otherwise they will not contain identifiable information about direction.
Allothetic navigation in
rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...
s uses external cues such as
visual,
auditory, or
olfactory
The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells (or odors) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste.
In humans, it ...
information to help them in foraging resources or for protection against predators.
Robot navigation
Robot navigation relies on allothetic and idiothetic information to determine a robot's position in its environment.
[Filliat, David, and Jean-Arcady Meyer.]
Map-based navigation in mobile robots:: I. a review of localization strategies
" Cognitive Systems Research 4.4 (2003): 243-282.
See also
*
Navigation research
Spatial cognition is the acquisition, organization, utilization, and revision of knowledge about spatial environments. It is most about how animals including humans behave within space and the knowledge they built around it, rather than space itse ...
*
Allocentrism
Allocentrism is a collectivistic personality attribute whereby people center their attention and actions on other people rather than themselves. It is a psychological dimension which corresponds to the general cultural dimension of collectivism. ...
References
Psychological adjustment
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