Conceptual Spaces: On the geometry of thought

Speaker:	Professor Peter Gärdenfors
		Professor of Cognitive Science
		Lund University Cognitive Science
		Sweden

Title:		"Conceptual Spaces: On the geometry of thought"

Date:		Monday, 27 October 2008

Time:		4:00pm - 5:00pm

Venue:		Lecture Theatre F
		(Leung Yat Sing Lecture Theatre, near lift nos. 25/26)
		HKUST

Abstract:

The dominating models of information processes have been based on symbolic
representations of information and knowledge. During the last decades, a
variety of non-symbolic models have been proposed as superior. The prime
examples of models within the non-symbolic approach are neural networks.
However, to a large extent they lack a higher-level theory of
representation. In this paper, conceptual spaces are suggested as an
appropriate framework for non-symbolic models. Conceptual spaces consist
of a number of 'quality dimensions' that often are derived from perceptual
mechanisms. It will be outlined how conceptual spaces can represent
various kind of information and how they can be used to describe concept
learning. The connections to prototype theory will also be presented


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Biography:

Peter Gärdenfors, Professor of Cognitive Science at Lund University,
received his PhD in Philosophy in 1974, Lund University. He is one of the
founders of modern work on believe revision based on AGM (Alchourrón,
Gärdenfors, and Makinson) postulates. Among the many honors and awards
that he has received, Professor Gärdenfors was awarded the Rausing prize
in humanities in 1996, has been a Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of
Letters, History and Antiquities since 1996, and Member of Academia
Europaea since 1999. His current research interests are concept formation
(using conceptual spaces based on geometrical and topological models),
cognitive semantics, models of knowledge and information (including the
relation between natural human information codes and computer codes), and
the evolution of cognition.