Original scientific paper
Towards the cognitive plausibility of conceptual space models
Vedran Galetić
orcid.org/0000-0003-3861-0202
; Ericsson Nikola Tesla, d.d., Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
This work is focused on formal approaches in cognitive semantics, namely, the formalisation of the conceptual level of representations as the intermediate level between the
symbolic and the connectivist one. An account of a selection of existing models is given.
It is argued that one of the most important shortcomings that keeps the existing models
from being truly cognitively plausible is the fact that they do not properly address the
correlations between objects’ perceptible features, which are argued to be causally linked
to the underlying, essential properties. The argumentation is supported by empirical evidence, implying the existence and importance of the causal effects in categorisation and
inductive learning. It is therefore claimed that any cognitively plausible model of semantic
representations needs to be able to adequately describe these cognitive phenomena, which
has not been achieved so far. The paper qualitatively sketches out a cognitively motivated
semantic representation model based on Gärdenfors’ conceptual space theory, endowed
with the capability of describing the correlation of surface properties, thus supporting the
notion of psychological essentialism.
Keywords
cognitive semantics; prototype theory; categorisation; psychological essentialism; property correlations
Hrčak ID:
150139
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2015.
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