CONCEPTUAL COORDINATION:

How the Mind Orders Experience in Time

WILLIAM J. CLANCEY

© Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers 1999

Order from the publisher (ISBN 0-8058-3143-6) ~$45
Paperback @2000 Psychology Press

SHORT DESCRIPTION

This book bridges the gap between models of human behavior that are based on cognitive task analysis and those based on neural networks. The author argues that these approaches are incomplete and not properly related to each other. His synthesis reconciles the very different conceptualizations of human memory assumed by these two approaches by assuming that 'what the brain remembers' is not a collection of symbols or neurons or even networks of either of these, but rather how to coordinate behavior in time, relating different modalities of conception and movement. A second premise is that behavior sequences are categorized, with perceptual categorizations (sounds, images) comprising the first order of categorization and conceptual categorizations of perceptions and actions in time comprising the second order. The conceptual categorizations are themselves sequenced and categorized, corresponding to the familiar classification hierarchies in cognitive models.

Inspired by Bartlett's work, the author seeks to develop a theory of "process memory"--memory for experience in time. Following the methodology of situated cognition, he finds clues in the particulars of human activity, such as typing errors, how a computer interface is used, how a child learns to play in a swimming pool, odd limitations in language comprehension, and so on. Throughout, he examines existing (and often famous) cognitive and neural models with respect to these phenomena. In each case, he attempts to show that the experienced behavior can be understood as sequences of categories being reactivated, substituted, and composed. Ultimately, this analysis is shown to be the link that may lead to improvement of both symbolic and neurally based models of memory and behavior, with concomitant implications for cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science as a whole.

REVIEWS

"This book is well reasoned and scholarly."—Journal of Mathematical Psychology 45, 665 667 (2001) URL: http://www.idealibrary.com.

"This book is worth reading for its new formulations of classic models and explanations in cognitive science, and for its nascent but important attempts to formulate a new approach and vocabulary at describing dynamical processes in memory. Clancey himself describes his analysis as an 'imaginative exploration', which is a necessary step toward more rigorous and neurally detailed understandings of these very complex phenomena."
— Mitchell, M. (2003). Review of “Conceptual Coordination: How the Mind Orders Experience in Time” by William J. Clancey. Contemporary Psychology, 48 (3) 17-24.

Preface

Conceptual Coordination

Reader's guide

Acknowledgments

PART I - COMPUTATIONAL MODELS OF PROCESS MEMORY

1 Introduction: The Temporal Relations of Conceptualization

The Essential Idea: Matching and Copying Versus Activating in Place

Synchronous Versus Sequential Activation

Synchronous Activation: The Duck-Rabbit Ambiguous Figure

Sequential Activation: Explanation of Kolers' Color Phi Phenomenon

Historical Background: The Scientific Study of Everyday Phenomena

Theory in a Nutshell

Reconsidering What Programming Languages Take for Granted

Summary: Categorizing in Time

Organization of the Book

2 Computational Memory Architectures

Computer Language Approaches

Indexed Memory Array

Linked List Memory

Actors in Dataflow Graphs

Hidden Markov Models

SHRDLU's Procedural Knowledge

Production Rule Memory

Production Rule Basics

Procedural and Episodic Memory in Soar

"Subdeliberate" and "Subsymbolic" Memory

Reformulating the "Executive"-Implicit Learning

Systematicity and Compositionality in the "Language of Thought"

Chapter Summary

3 Neural Architectures for Categorization and Sequential Learning

TNGS: Neural Map Activation over Time

Sequential Connectionist Learning

Experiments with Nesting and Timing

Reinterpreting SRN in Terms of Neural Activation

Reinterpreting Stored Text Procedural Models as Neural Processes

Reinterpreting Activation Trace Diagrams as a Neural Theory

PART II - SERIAL LEARNING AS PHYSICAL COORDINATION

4 Coupled Perceptual-Motor Conception

The Example: Multiple Message Windows

Discussion: Figure-Ground Priorities

Why Did the Reminder Occur?

The Role of Social Context in Coordinated Action

Distinguishing Between Awareness and Representations

5 Extending a Felt Path

The Felt Path of a Melody Representation

A Felt Path in a Swimming Pool

Restructuring and Progressive Deepening

Alternate Representations of a Felt Path

Short-term Memory of Behavior Sequences

Use of an Anchor in Deliberate Sequential Coordination

6 Slips and Parallel Binding

Seeing What You Are Saying

Understanding "Slips"- Roles in a Sequence

Slip Patterns: A Coordination Mechanism or Stored Templates?

Exchanges and Bindings

Evidence for Parallel-Hierarchical Activation

Norman's Theory of Action

7 The Paintbrush Inventors: Analogy and Theorizing

Inventing a Synthetic Paintbrush

Compositions of Activities snd Perceptions

Activation Trace Representation of the Painters' Experience

Alternative Models of Analogical Thought

Importance of Learning and Activity Context

Storytelling as Coordinating

Conceptual Coordinating as Conversing with Materials

PART III - SPEAKING AS CREATING KNOWLEDGE

8 Bartlett's Reconstructive Memory

Remembering as Coordinating

"Schema" as an Active, Coordinating Process

Novelty in Manipulation of Materials

The Role of Emotion in Conceptual Coordination

Summary of Functional Architecture of Remembering

9 Transformational Processes, Grammars, and Self-Organizing Strings

Piaget's Transformational Processes

Chomsky's Mental Physiology

Berwick's Appeal to Connectionism

Kauffman's Autocatalytic Symbol Strings

10 Comprehension Difficulties Related to "Interference in Short-Term Memory"

The Interference Problem

Example of Notation for Acceptable Sentences

Embedded Propositions

Double Anchoring in Recursive Sentences

Permissible Syntactic Relations

Neural Processes Interpretation of the "Two Node" Limitation

11 Stored Descriptive-Schemas Revisited

Logical Novelty

Schank's Failure-Driven Model of Memory

Feigenbaum and Simon's EPAM

What EPAM learns

How EPAM Learnings

Recursiveness suggests conceptualization

12 Problem-Space Models Revisited

Studying Descriptive Models of Problem Solving

Problem-Solving Grammars

Model Construction in natural Language Understanding Programs

Relating Soar and Neomycin Terminology

Problem Spaces in NL-Soar and Neomycin

From Speaking to Grammars and Theories of Speaking

Reconsidering the "Knowledge Acquisition" Process

Using Knowledge Bases to "Parse" Human Behavior

Learning New Operators and Problem Spaces

13 Conclusions: The Nature and Role of Consciousness

What the Examples Showed

A Proper Interpretation of Activation Trace Diagrams

How Conventional Cognitive Models Need to be Revised

Goals and Intentionality

Learning

Where do the Lower Problem Spaces Come From?

Categories and Grounding

Representational Terminology

Subsymbolic

Behavior or Experience?

Understanding Patterns in Self-Organizing Mechanisms

Consciousness as Higher-Order Conceptual Coordination

Next Steps for Cognitive and Social Science

Questions about Neural Activation and Categorization processes

Implications for Cognitive and Social Psychology

Coordinating Conceptual Spaces Across Disciplines

Are There Principles for Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research?

REFERENCES

AUTHOR INDEX

SUBJECT INDEX

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