Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Principles of representation
T2 - why you can't represent the same concept twice
AU - Connell, Louise
AU - Lynott, Dermot
PY - 2014/7
Y1 - 2014/7
N2 - As embodied theories of cognition are increasingly formalized and tested, care must be taken to make informed assumptions regarding the nature of concepts and representations. In this study, we outline three reasons why one cannot, in effect, represent the same concept twice. First, online perception affects offline representation: Current representational content depends on how ongoing demands direct attention to modality-specific systems. Second, language is a fundamental facilitator of offline representation: Bootstrapping and shortcuts within the computationally cheaper linguistic system continuously modify representational content. Third, time itself is a source of representational change: As the content of underlying concepts shifts with the accumulation of direct and vicarious experience, so too does the content of representations that draw upon these concepts. We discuss the ramifications of these principles for research into both human and synthetic cognitive systems.
AB - As embodied theories of cognition are increasingly formalized and tested, care must be taken to make informed assumptions regarding the nature of concepts and representations. In this study, we outline three reasons why one cannot, in effect, represent the same concept twice. First, online perception affects offline representation: Current representational content depends on how ongoing demands direct attention to modality-specific systems. Second, language is a fundamental facilitator of offline representation: Bootstrapping and shortcuts within the computationally cheaper linguistic system continuously modify representational content. Third, time itself is a source of representational change: As the content of underlying concepts shifts with the accumulation of direct and vicarious experience, so too does the content of representations that draw upon these concepts. We discuss the ramifications of these principles for research into both human and synthetic cognitive systems.
KW - Embodied cognition
KW - Concepts
KW - Representation
KW - Perceptual simulation
KW - Language
KW - Linguistic shortcut
KW - Embodied cognition;Concepts;Representation;Perceptual simulation;Language;Linguistic shortcut;Linguistic bootstrapping
U2 - 10.1111/tops.12097
DO - 10.1111/tops.12097
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 24895329
VL - 6
SP - 390
EP - 406
JO - Topics in Cognitive Science
JF - Topics in Cognitive Science
SN - 1756-8757
IS - 3
ER -