scholarly journals Characterizing Variability in Shared Meaning through Millions of Sketches

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Lewis ◽  
Anjali Balamurugan ◽  
Bin Zheng ◽  
Gary Lupyan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representations ◽  
Shared Meaning ◽  
Conceptual Representations ◽  
Average Person ◽  
Specific Concept ◽  
Valence And Arousal

The study of mental representations of concepts has historically focused on the representations of the “average” person. Here, we shift away from this aggregate view and examine the principles of variability across people in conceptual representations. Using a database of millions of sketches by people worldwide, we ask what predicts whether people converge or diverge in their representations of a specific concept, and which kinds of concepts tend to be more or less variable.We find that larger and more dense populations tend to have less variable representations, and concepts high in valence and arousal tend to be less variable across people. Further, two countries tend to have people with more similar conceptual representations when they are linguistically, geographically, and culturally similar. Our work provides the first characterization of the principles of variability in shared meaning across a large, diverse sample of participants.

scholarly journals From ‘ontological metaphor’ to semiotic make-believe: giving shape and substance to fictive objects of conception with the ‘globe gesture’

Signo ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (70) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Remi Lapaire
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representations ◽  
Controlled Environment ◽  
Cognitive Artifact ◽  
Emotional Appeal ◽  
Physical Presence ◽  
Sense Of Reality ◽  
Suspension Of Disbelief ◽  
Set Up ◽  
High Degree

Speakers are moving cognizers who engage in bodily acts of conceptualization. The “globe gesture” is among the most spectacular forms of “manual thinking” (Streeck 2009) used in formal talk. A characterization of the kinesic action typical of the “globe gesture” is first provided that shows how “the image of a bounded, supportable object” is created (McNeill 1992) and set up in gesture space. As conceptual objects are created and masses of semantic substance fashioned, visible shape is given to shapeless mental representations. A powerful semiotic trick is performed with a simple cognitive artifact. Interestingly, a willing suspension of disbelief is required of speakers and listeners who must temporarily give up their rational conceptions of visibility, materiality and palpability to watch the symbolic manipulation of invisible objects. The basic expressive properties of the “globe gesture” are next characterized: outlining and isolating objects of conception; neutralizing semantic specification; establishing a joint focus of attention and imagination; shaping, displaying and unifying content; creating a sense of reality and existence through physical presence. Iconic modifications of the standard metaphoric hand configuration, virtuosic elaborations and creative blends are finally examined before reporting the results of an experimental study of the globe gesture’s heuristic properties in a controlled environment. 14 students attending a multimodal “kineflective” seminar used the hand configuration to engage in “choreographic thinking” (Forsythe 2009) and develop a haptic understanding of derivation, nominalization, substantivation, conceptual reification. The globe gesture acted as a facilitator so long as a high degree of generality was maintained but was promptly discarded when words with a strong emotional appeal were introduced (e.g. sadness, madness). Emblems and iconic gestures were spontaneously performed instead.

Producing a Mental Representation of a Cup of Sake

2019 ◽  
pp. 430-448
Author(s):  
Hiroki Fukushima
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Method ◽  
Mental Representation ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Visual Image ◽  
The Other ◽  
Experimental Methodology ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Average Person ◽  
Supporting Tool

In this chapter, methodologies for producing a mental representation of a cup of sake are introduced. Mental representations of taste are often vague and fuzzy in comparison to audio or visual images. On the other hand, some individuals, such as sommeliers or tasters of sake, are able to readily formulate a representation of the taste they experience. How can the average person produce words or other types of mental representations in such a situation? In this chapter, the author presents three methodologies for eliciting mental representations of taste: a new supporting tool for verbalizing an image of taste, an experimental method for testing a verbal and visual image for taste, and an experimental methodology for producing a free drawing representation of a cup of sake.

scholarly journals Rethinking Meaning: An Ecological Perspective on Language

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-97
Author(s):  
Joanna Rączaszek-Leonardi ◽  
Riccardo Fusaroli ◽  
Nicoletta Caramelli
Keyword(s):  
Human Ecology ◽  
Distributed Cognition ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Multiple Systems ◽  
Innovative Methods ◽  
Common Effort ◽  
Key Aspects

AbstractIn a view of language as part of embodied and situated cognition, reduction of its meaning to individual mental representations ceases to be sufficient. Language relies on and at the same time enables distributed cognition thus the key aspects of meaning are in the interaction of individuals within their world. This special issue is an outcome of a workshop, which gathered representatives of several disciplines in a common effort to find appropriate theoretical concepts for the characterization of those aspects of meaning that lie in the mutual constraining between language and collective practice. The emerging picture is complex, involving multimodal participatory construction of meaning in multiple systems and on multiple timescales. The Authors, however propose also several innovative methods to navigate this complexity. In this short introduction we aim at placing the works contained in this issue on a broader map of ongoing efforts to understand language as a proper part of human ecology.

A Reexamination of the Perceptual-to-Conceptual Shift in Mental Representations

1997 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul C. Quinn ◽  
Peter D. Eimas
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representations ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Human Knowledge ◽  
Surface Features ◽  
Conceptual Representations ◽  
Human Thought ◽  
Young Infants ◽  
Conceptual Shift ◽  
Perceptual Systems

The authors discuss the origins of categorical representations in young infants, using recent evidence on the categorization of animals. This evidence suggests that mature conceptual representations for animals derive from the earliest perceptually based representations of animals formed by young infants, those based on the surface features characteristic of each species, including humans. The shift from perceptually to conceptually based representation is a gradual and continuous process marked by initial, relatively simple, perceptually based representations coming to include more and more specific values of common animal properties. Development is thus a process of enrichment by perceptual systems, including that for language, and without the need of specialized processes that alter the nature of human thought and the representation of human knowledge.

What are Mental Representations?

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Mental Representation ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

Mental representation is one of the core theoretical constructs within cognitive science and, together with the introduction of the computer as a model for the mind, is responsible for enabling the “cognitive turn” in psychology and associated fields. Conceiving of cognitive processes, such as perception, motor control, and reasoning, as processes that consist in the manipulation of contentful vehicles representing the world has allowed us to refine our explanations of behavior and has led to tremendous empirical advancements. Despite the central role that the concept plays in cognitive science, there is no unanimously accepted characterization of mental representation. Technological and methodological progress in the cognitive sciences has produced numerous computational models of the brain and mind, many of which have introduced mutually incompatible notions of mental representation. This proliferation has led some philosophers to question the metaphysical status and explanatory usefulness of the notion. This book contains state-of-the-art chapters on the topic of mental representation, assembling some of the leading experts in the field and allowing them to engage in meaningful exchanges over some of the most contentious questions. The collection gathers both proponents and critics of the concept of mental representation, allowing them to engage with topics such as the ontological status of representations, the possibility of formulating a general account of mental representation which would fit our best explanatory practices, and the possibility of delivering such an account in fully naturalistic terms.

scholarly journals Linguistic Relativity and Flexibility of Mental Representations: Color Terms in a Frame Based Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 121-141
Author(s):  
Leda Berio
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Mental Representation ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Linguistic Relativity ◽  
Perceptual Information ◽  
Linguistic Information ◽  
Color Terms ◽  
Conceptual Representations ◽  
Fundamental Assumption ◽  
Variable Influence

AbstractThis paper connects the issue of the influence of language on conceptual representations, known as Linguistic Relativity, with some issues pertaining to concepts’ structure and retrieval. In what follows, I present a model of the relation between linguistic information and perceptual information in concepts using frames as a format of mental representation, and argue that this model not only accommodates the empirical evidence presented by the linguistic relativity debate, but also sheds some light on unanswered questions regarding conceptual representations’ structure. A fundamental assumption is that mental representations can be conceptualised as complex functional structures whose components can be dynamically and flexibly recruited depending on the tasks at hand; the components include linguistic and non-linguistic elements. This kind of model allows for the representation of the interaction between linguistic and perceptual information and accounts for the variable influence that color labels have on non-linguistic tasks. The paper provides some example of strategy shifting and flexible recruitment of linguistic information available in the literature and explains them using frames.

scholarly journals Mapping the mental space of emotional concepts through kinematic measures of decision uncertainty

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Barca ◽  
Matteo Candidi ◽  
Gian Luca Lancia ◽  
Valerio Maglianella ◽  
Giovanni Pezzulo
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Similarity Index ◽  
Similarity Judgment ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Valence And Arousal ◽  
Kinematic Measures ◽  
Emotional Concepts

Emotional concepts and their mental representations have been extensively studied. Yet, some ecologically relevant aspects, such as how emotional concepts are processed in ambiguous contexts, are incompletely known. We employed a similarity judgment of emotional concepts and manipulated the contextual congruency along the two main affective dimensions of hedonic valence and physiological activation, respectively. Behavioral and kinematics (mouse-tracking) measures were combined to gather a novel ‘similarity index’ between concepts, to derive topographical maps of their mental representations. Self-report (interoceptive sensibility, positive-negative affectivity, depression) and physiological measures (heart rate variability) have been tested to shape the emotional maps. Results indicate that low arousal concepts profit by contextual congruency, with faster responses and reduced uncertainty when contextual ambiguity decreases. The emotional maps exhibit two almost orthogonal axes of valence and arousal, and the similarity measure captures the smooth boundaries between emotions. The emotional map of individuals with low positive affectivity reveals a narrower conceptual distribution, with variations on positive emotions and on emotions with reduced arousal (as individuals with reduced heart rate variability). In sum, our work introduces a novel methodology for delve conceptual representations, bringing the dynamics of decision-making processes and choice uncertainty into the affective domain.

Representing Representations

2021 ◽  
pp. 177-234
Author(s):  
Kenneth A. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representations ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Argument Position ◽  
Attitude Ascriptions ◽  
De Re ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Modes Of Presentation ◽  
The World ◽  
Mental Contents

This chapter champions the priority of objectual representations and reference to the world over fine-grained “inner” mental representations. The main argument rests upon demonstrating that our attitude ascriptions practices give priority to de re ascriptions of mental contents over de dicto ascriptions of mental contents. The argument thereby advances a rejection of the Fregean tradition that construes modes of presentations of objects as essential to the characterization of mental contents within attitude ascriptions. A novel argument is advanced invoking the evaluative commitments expressed with embedded referential slurring terms in argument position, showing them to reveal derogatory attitudes of the ascriber, not the ascribee, and then showing by analogy that the same obtains for existential and referential commitments: they do not typically invoke Fregean modes of presentation by which the ascribee cognizes the world. The chapter ends by reexamining substitution puzzles and the nature of de re belief.

scholarly journals AFFECTIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF MOVIE SCENES BASED ON CONTENT ANALYSIS AND PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES

2009 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 235-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
MOHAMMAD SOLEYMANI ◽  
GUILLAUME CHANEL ◽  
JOEP J. M. KIERKELS ◽  
THIERRY PUN
Keyword(s):  
Linear Combination ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Video Content ◽  
Indexing And Retrieval ◽  
Self Assessments ◽  
Valence And Arousal ◽  
Gender Groups ◽  
Audio Video ◽  
Arousal And Valence

In this paper, we propose an approach for affective characterization of movie scenes based on the emotions that are actually felt by spectators. Such a representation can be used to characterize the emotional content of video clips in application areas such as affective video indexing and retrieval, and neuromarketing studies. A dataset of 64 different scenes from eight movies was shown to eight participants. While watching these scenes, their physiological responses were recorded. The participants were asked to self-assess their felt emotional arousal and valence for each scene. In addition, content-based audio- and video-based features were extracted from the movie scenes in order to characterize each scene. Degrees of arousal and valence were estimated by a linear combination of features from physiological signals, as well as by a linear combination of content-based features. We showed that a significant correlation exists between valence-arousal provided by the spectator's self-assessments, and affective grades obtained automatically from either physiological responses or from audio-video features. By means of an analysis of variance (ANOVA), the variation of different participants' self assessments and different gender groups self assessments for both valence and arousal were shown to be significant (p-values lower than 0.005). These affective characterization results demonstrate the ability of using multimedia features and physiological responses to predict the expected affect of the user in response to the emotional video content.

Morphological Characterization of Mycobacteriophage R1

1974 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 254-255
Author(s):  
B. L. Soloff ◽  
T. A. Rado
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Source ◽  
Stationary Phase ◽  
Growth Phase ◽  
Minimal Medium ◽  
Morphological Characterization ◽  
Logarithmic Growth Phase ◽  
Complete Lysis ◽  
Lysogenic Culture ◽  
Logarithmic Growth

Mycobacteriophage R1 was originally isolated from a lysogenic culture of M. butyricum. The virus was propagated on a leucine-requiring derivative of M. smegmatis, 607 leu−, isolated by nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis of typestrain ATCC 607. Growth was accomplished in a minimal medium containing glycerol and glucose as carbon source and enriched by the addition of 80 μg/ ml L-leucine. Bacteria in early logarithmic growth phase were infected with virus at a multiplicity of 5, and incubated with aeration for 8 hours. The partially lysed suspension was diluted 1:10 in growth medium and incubated for a further 8 hours. This permitted stationary phase cells to re-enter logarithmic growth and resulted in complete lysis of the culture.

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