Understanding memory and knowledge

尽管它对理解思想具有明显的重要性，但我们直到最近才找到一种既在数学上易于处理又在心理/生理上合理的方式来表示单词的意义。这里提出的研究是关于如何在记忆和思维的形式模型中使用新发现的意义表征。该提案包括分析当我们的词汇随着年龄增长而稳定时，我们的语义空间结构是如何变化的。该分析的一个应用方面在于结构的异常变化可能为痴呆症提供早期和易于管理的诊断。这项工作还关注语义分类的动态，通过询问语义分类是否表现出在知觉分类中从一次试验到另一次试验中已知的表征变化。目前的理论认为，分类在感知和语义的例子中应该以同样的方式工作。如果感知分类和语义分类没有共同的动力，分类过程的当前帐户将不得不修订。我还通过考虑潜在的主动干预机制和人们在被要求学习时组织材料的机制，来考虑在标准学习任务中如何使用意义。最后，我考虑了新发现的意义表征对记忆和思想的分析如何与已有的记忆描述相协调。这项工作对认知理论很重要：它是一场思维革命的开始，它将意义作为基本过程的驱动力。到目前为止，理论在很大程度上忽略了意义，而倾向于结构思想，例如模态模型对短期和长期记忆的关注。这项工作有可能有利于医学诊断，并影响痴呆症的计划和治疗。最后，这项工作将培养研究生和pdf在思想的数学理解的前沿工作。

In spite of its obvious importance to understanding thought, we have only recently found a way to represent the meaning of words in a way that is both mathematically tractable and psychologically / physiologically plausible. The research proposed here addresses how to use the newly discovered representation of meaning in formal models of memory and thought. The proposal includes an analysis of how the structure of our semantic space changes when our vocabulary stabilizes as we age. An applied aspect of the analysis lies in the possibility that abnormal changes in structure may provide an early and simple-to-administer diagnosis for dementia. The work also focuses on the dynamics of semantic classification by asking whether semantic classification exhibits the shifts in representation known to occur from trial to trial in perceptual classification. Current theory assumes that classification should work the same way in both perceptual and semantic examples. If both perceptual and semantic classification do not share common dynamics, current accounts of the classification process will have to be revised. I also consider how meaning is used in standard learning tasks by considering the mechanism underlying proactive interference and the mechanism by which people organize material when they are asked to learn it. Finally, I consider how an analysis of memory and thought informed by the newly discovered representation of meaning can be reconciled with established accounts of memory. The work is important for theory on cognition: it is the beginning of a revolution in thinking that includes meaning as a driver of basic processes. Heretofore, theory largely ignored meaning in favour of structural ideas exemplified by the modal model's focus on short- and long-term memory. The work has the potential to benefit medical diagnosis and to impact planning and treatment of dementia. Finally, the work will train graduate students and PDFs in cutting edge work in the mathematical understanding of thought.