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Representing part-whole relations in conceptual space

Fiorini, Sandro LU ; Gärdenfors, Peter LU and Abel, Mara (2014) In Cognitive Processing 15(2). p.127-142
Abstract
In this paper, we propose a cognitive semantic approach to represent part–whole relations. We base our proposal on the theory of conceptual spaces, focusing on prototypical structures in part–whole relations. Prototypical structures are not accounted for in traditional mereological formalisms. In our account, parts and wholes are represented in distinct conceptual spaces; parts are joined to form wholes in a structure space. The structure space allows systematic similarity judgments between wholes, taking into consideration shared parts and their configurations. A point in the structure space denotes a particular part structure; regions in the space represent different general types of part structures. We argue that the structural space... (More)
In this paper, we propose a cognitive semantic approach to represent part–whole relations. We base our proposal on the theory of conceptual spaces, focusing on prototypical structures in part–whole relations. Prototypical structures are not accounted for in traditional mereological formalisms. In our account, parts and wholes are represented in distinct conceptual spaces; parts are joined to form wholes in a structure space. The structure space allows systematic similarity judgments between wholes, taking into consideration shared parts and their configurations. A point in the structure space denotes a particular part structure; regions in the space represent different general types of part structures. We argue that the structural space can represent prototype effects: structural types are formed around typical arrangements of parts. We also show how structure space captures the variations in part structure of a given concept across different domains. In addition, we discuss how some taxonomies of part–whole relations can be understood within our framework. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Cognitive Processing
volume
15
issue
2
pages
127 - 142
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • wos:000346037900002
  • scopus:84899978461
  • pmid:24146391
ISSN
1612-4782
DOI
10.1007/s10339-013-0585-x
project
Thinking in Time: Cognition, Communication and Learning
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
26553760-2f91-4900-b103-a71cdc0daeb1 (old id 4897138)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:31:33
date last changed
2022-04-27 22:58:40
@article{26553760-2f91-4900-b103-a71cdc0daeb1,
  abstract     = {{In this paper, we propose a cognitive semantic approach to represent part–whole relations. We base our proposal on the theory of conceptual spaces, focusing on prototypical structures in part–whole relations. Prototypical structures are not accounted for in traditional mereological formalisms. In our account, parts and wholes are represented in distinct conceptual spaces; parts are joined to form wholes in a structure space. The structure space allows systematic similarity judgments between wholes, taking into consideration shared parts and their configurations. A point in the structure space denotes a particular part structure; regions in the space represent different general types of part structures. We argue that the structural space can represent prototype effects: structural types are formed around typical arrangements of parts. We also show how structure space captures the variations in part structure of a given concept across different domains. In addition, we discuss how some taxonomies of part–whole relations can be understood within our framework.}},
  author       = {{Fiorini, Sandro and Gärdenfors, Peter and Abel, Mara}},
  issn         = {{1612-4782}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{127--142}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Cognitive Processing}},
  title        = {{Representing part-whole relations in conceptual space}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10339-013-0585-x}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10339-013-0585-x}},
  volume       = {{15}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}