Understanding memory and knowledge

尽管它对理解思维很重要，但我们直到最近才找到一种方法来表达单词的意义，这种方法在数学上是容易处理的，在心理上和生理上都是合理的。本文提出的研究是关于如何在记忆和思维的正式模型中使用新发现的意义表征。这项建议包括分析当我们的词汇量随着年龄的增长而稳定时，我们的语义空间结构是如何变化的。分析的一个应用方面在于，结构的异常变化可能会为痴呆症提供早期和易于管理的诊断。这项工作还通过询问语义分类是否表现出在知觉分类中从一个试验到另一个试验的表征转移来关注语义分类的动态。目前的理论认为，分类在知觉和语义例子中都应该以相同的方式工作。如果感知分类和语义分类没有共同的动态，分类过程的当前账户将不得不进行修订。我还考虑了如何在标准学习任务中使用意义，通过考虑潜在的主动干预机制，以及当人们被要求学习时组织材料的机制。最后，我考虑了由新发现的意义表征所提供的对记忆和思想的分析如何与对记忆的既定描述相一致。这项工作对认知理论很重要：它是一场思维革命的开始，这场革命包括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，而偏爱结构概念，如模式模型对短期和长期记忆的关注。这项工作有可能有助于医学诊断，并影响痴呆症的规划和治疗。最后，这项工作将培训研究生和PDF在数学思想的理解方面的前沿工作。

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.