Categorizing Cognition

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Cognition and Categorization

Originally published in 1978, the papers in this book derive from a 1976 meeting sponsored by the Social Science Research Council to discuss the nature and principles of category formation. It is organized in three sections: real-world categories, the cognitive processes underlying categorization, and the nature of representation. Part I examines different structural aspects of real-world categories: folk biological taxonomies, within and between category structures for material objects, and some categories in a language that codes the world in a visual–gestural mode. All three chapters in Part I assume category processors who are able to perform at least three cognitive functions: They can judge similarity between stimuli; they can perceive and process the attributes of a stimulus; and they can learn. Part II presents analyses of these three cognitive functions. All discussion of psychological structures and processes lead eventually to the issue of representation, and Part III examines representational assumptions underlying the earlier discussions. Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.
Categorizing Cognition

A proposal for a categorization of cognition based on core properties of the constituent processes that integrates theory and empirical findings across domains. All sciences need ways to classify the phenomena they investigate; chemistry has the periodic table and biology a taxonomic system for classifying life forms. These classification schemes depend on conceptual coherence, demonstrated correspondences across paradigms. This conceptual coherence has proved elusive in psychology, although recent advances have brought the field to the point at which it is possible to define the type of classificatory system needed. This book proposes a categorization of cognition based on core properties of constituent processes, recognizing correspondences between cognitive processes with similar underlying structure but different surface properties. These correspondences are verified mathematically and shown not to be merely coincidental. The proposed formulation leads to general principles that transcend domains and paradigms and facilitate the interpretation of empirical findings. It covers human and nonhuman cognition and human cognition in all age ranges. Just as the periodic table classifies elements and not compounds, this system classifies relatively basic versions of cognitive tasks but allows for complexity. The book shows that a more integrated, coherent account of cognition would have many benefits. It would reduce the conceptual fragmentation of psychology; offer defined criteria by which to categorize new empirical results; and lead to fruitful hypotheses for the acquisition of higher cognition.
The Categorization of Spatial Entities in Language and Cognition

Author: Michel Aurnague
language: en
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Release Date: 2007-01-01
Despite a growing interest for space in language, most research has focused on spatial markers specifying the static or dynamic relationships among entities (verbs, prepositions, postpositions, case markings ). Little attention has been paid to the very properties of spatial entities, their status in linguistic descriptions, and their implications for spatial cognition and its development in children. This topic is at the center of this book, that opens a new field by sketching some major theoretical and methodological directions for future research on spatial entities. Brought together linguistic descriptions of spatial systems, formal accounts of linguistic data, and experimental findings from psycholinguistic studies, all couched within a wide cross-linguistic perspective. Such an interdisciplinary approach provides a rich overview of the many questions that remain unanswered in relation to spatial entities, while also throwing a new light on previous research focusing on related topics concerning space and/or the relation between language and cognition.