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On the spatial foundations of the conceptual system and its enrichment. Cognitive Science, 36, 421–451. D ow nl oa de d by [T em ple U niv ers ity L ibr ari es ] a t 0
- 6:3 7 M ay CARVING THE WORLD FOR LANGUAGE 283
, 2012
"... A theory of how concept formation begins is presented that accounts for conceptual activity in the first year of life, shows how increasing conceptual complexity comes about, and predicts the order in which new types of information accrue to the conceptual system. In a compromise between nativist an ..."
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A theory of how concept formation begins is presented that accounts for conceptual activity in the first year of life, shows how increasing conceptual complexity comes about, and predicts the order in which new types of information accrue to the conceptual system. In a compromise between nativist and empiricist views, it offers a single domain-general mechanism that redescribes attended spatio-temporal information into an iconic form. The outputs of this mechanism consist of types of spatial information that we know infants attend to in the first months of life. These primitives form the initial basis of concept formation, allow explicit preverbal thought, such as recall, inferences, and simple mental problem solving, and support early language learning. The theory details how spatial concepts become associated with bodily feelings of force and trying. It also explains why concepts of emo-tions, sensory concepts such as color, and theory of mind concepts are necessarily later acquisitions because they lack contact with spatial descriptions to interpret unstructured internal experiences. Finally, commonalities between the concepts of preverbal infants and nonhuman primates are discussed.
Learning Containment Metaphors
"... We present a computational approach that traces the developmental process, from containment image schemas to metaphor, in four phases: a) perceptual discovery of image schemas, b) associating perceptual arguments and the relation with linguistic units, c) discovering a linguistic structure encoding ..."
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We present a computational approach that traces the developmental process, from containment image schemas to metaphor, in four phases: a) perceptual discovery of image schemas, b) associating perceptual arguments and the relation with linguistic units, c) discovering a linguistic structure encoding the schema, and finally d) enriching the semantics of the schema via extended language usage (via a corpus). In the first three phases, we use no prior knowledge about either the perceptual or language domains; in the corpus analysis, we use the WordNet ontology. Our input is an animation based on the Heider-Simmel video, together with a small corpus of transcribed commentaries. From the image sequence, we cluster the visual angle subtended by a landmark, and find that one cluster reflects containment. This is then correlated with the sentences from the adult commentaries uttered contemporaneously with containment situations, yielding strong objectnouns and relation-preposition associations. For discovering linguistic constructs, we use no knowledge of grammatical category or syntax but find recurring patterns using the approach of (Solan, Ruppin, Horn, & Edelman, 2002). Knowing the units involved, we can identify several phrasal patterns (e.g. “X moved into”, “in the Y”). We then search a corpus with the “in the Y ” schema to identify container words. We find that the most common class involving containment is location (66%), followed by group membership (20%), time, and cognition (17 % each). These may be thought of as language-based non-spatial enrichments for the image schema.
Fundamental Cognitive Concepts of Space (and Time): Using Cross-Linguistic, Crowdsourced Data to Cognitively Calibrate Modes of Overlap
, 2013
"... This article makes several contributions to research on fundamental spatial and temporal concepts: First, we set out to render the notion of fundamental concepts of space and time more precise. Second, we introduce an efficient approach for collecting behavioral data combining crowdsourcing techno ..."
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This article makes several contributions to research on fundamental spatial and temporal concepts: First, we set out to render the notion of fundamental concepts of space and time more precise. Second, we introduce an efficient approach for collecting behavioral data combining crowdsourcing technology, efficient experimental software tools, and an effective and comprehensive analysis methodology. Third, we present behavioral studies that allow for identifying and calibrating potential candidates of fundamental spatial concepts from a cognitive perspective. Fourth, one prominent topic in the area of spatio-temporal cognition is the influence of language on how humans conceptualize their dynamic spatial environments. We used the aforementioned framework to collect data not only from English speaking participants but also from native Chinese and Korean speakers. Our application domain are the modes of overlap proposed by Galton [13]. We are able to show that the originally proposed spatial relations of the region connection calculus and intersection models are capturing cognitively fundamental distinctions that humans make with respect to modes of overlap. While finer distinctions are formally possible, they should not be considered fundamental conceptualizations in either Chinese, Korean, or English. The results show that our framework allows for efficiently answering questions about fundamental concepts of space, time, and space-time essential for theories of spatial information.
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"... a r t i c l e i n f o sentence is constructed. Learning these words, however, is difficult because infants must not only parse events into and language development. We ask how children process basic components of events at a time when they are at the cusp of word learning, and also when most childre ..."
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a r t i c l e i n f o sentence is constructed. Learning these words, however, is difficult because infants must not only parse events into and language development. We ask how children process basic components of events at a time when they are at the cusp of word learning, and also when most children have amassed a native vocabulary of 50 or more words. When do infants demonstrate an ability to parse events into foundational components like figures (i.e., prominent agent undergoing the motion) and grounds (i.e., a refer-ence point or a stationary setting) and how does exposure