Different Levels Of Representation Research Articles

Task Sets under Reconstruction: Effects of Partially Incorrect Precues

To perform a task that differs from a previously performed one, it is necessary to prepare for the new task as well as to disable the task set of the preceding task. In a series of three experiments we examined whether preparation for a task shift implies a direct update of the task set that is carried over from the preceding trial. To this end, in Experiments 1 and 2 we factorially varied the relation of the task in trial n, first, to the task in trial n - 1 (intertask relation) and, second, to the task that was precued for trial n (precue-to-task relation). Invalid precues resulted in substantial costs, which increased with longer precueing intervals. However, this increasing effect of the precue-to-task relation was not accompanied by a decreasing effect of the intertask relation. Furthermore, both effects had different qualitative properties. These findings suggest that two tasks can be represented concurrently but on two different levels of representation. In Experiment 3 we observed that the persistence of the effect of the intertask relation depends on the possibility that task repetitions can occur in trials in which a task shift is precued. This suggests that the persistence of the effect of the intertask relation is controlled in a context-sensitive way.

Structural analogy and universal grammar

For much of the 20th century, and sporadically in earlier periods, many grammarians drew, more or less explicitly, structural parallels between the syntax and the phonology. Here I discuss one explicit instance of this, embodied in what I have called elsewhere the structural analogy assumption (SAA), a less extreme version than the isomorphism advocated by e.g. Louis Hjelmslev. This interpretation of the SAA takes analogy between levels to be unmarked, and attempts to limit in a principled way the divergences in structure that can be exhibited by different levels of representation. Such syntax-phonology analogies have been argued, notably by Phil Carr, to be incompatible with the hypothesis concerning universal grammar (UG) that sees it as strongly innate and that on these grounds excludes phonology from UG; and the viability of particular proposed analogies has as a consequence been called into question. Here, in response, I question the soundness of the alleged motivations for such a view of UG, and argue, on both substantive and formal grounds, for the appropriateness of anticipating pervasive and detailed analogies between the syntax and phonology, as well as briefly considering further the basis for limitations on analogy. In the course of this consideration I expose what I take to be an inappropriate intra-syntactic analogy, the attribution, by the X′ theory of syntax, of parallel structures to the constructions projected by different categories.

Self-representation: Searching for a neural signature of self-consciousness

Human self-consciousness operates at different levels of complexity and at least comprises five different levels of representational processes. These five levels are nonconceptual representation, conceptual representation, sentential representation, meta-representation, and iterative meta-representation. These different levels of representation can be operationalized by taking a first-person-perspective that is involved in representational processes on different levels of complexity. We refer to experiments that operationalize a first-person-perspective on the level of conceptual and meta-representational self-consciousness. Interestingly, these experiments show converging evidence for a recruitment of medial cortical and parietal regions during taking a first-person-perspective, even when operating on different degrees of complexity. These data lend support for the speculative hypothesis, that there exist a neural signature for human self-consciousness that is recruited independent from the degree of representational complexity to be performed.

The role of submicroscopic and symbolic representations in chemical explanations

Chemistry is commonly portrayed at three different levels of representation – macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic – that combine to enrich the explanations of chemical concepts. In this article, we examine the use of submicroscopic and symbolic representations in chemical explanations and ascertain how they provide meaning. Of specific interest is the development of students' levels of understanding, conceived as instrumental (knowing how) and relational (knowing why) understanding, as a result of regular Grade 11 chemistry lessons using analogical, anthropomorphic, relational, problem‐based, and model‐based explanations. Examples of both teachers' and students' dialogue are used to illustrate how submicroscopic and symbolic representations are manifested in their explanations of observed chemical phenomena. The data in this research indicated that effective learning at a relational level of understanding requires simultaneous use of submicroscopic and symbolic representations in chemical explanations. Representations are used to help the learner learn; however, the research findings showed that students do not always understand the role of the representation that is assumed by the teacher.

Is color an intrinsic property of object representation?

The role of color in object representation was examined by using a variation of the Stroop paradigm in which observers named the displayed colors of objects or words. In experiment 1, colors of color-diagnostic objects were manipulated to be either typical or atypical of the object (eg a yellow banana versus a purple banana). A Stroop-like effect was obtained, with faster color-naming times for the typical as compared to the atypical condition. In experiment 2, naming colors on words specifying these same color-diagnostic objects reversed this pattern, with the typical condition producing longer response times than the atypical condition. In experiment 3, a blocked condition design that used the same words and colors as experiment 2 produced the standard Stroop-like facilitation for the typical condition. These results indicate that color is an intrinsic property of an object's representation at multiple levels. In experiment 4, we examined the specific level(s) at which color-shape associations arise by following the tasks used in experiments 1 and 2 with a lexical-decision task in which some items were conceptually related to items shown during color naming (eg banana/monkey). Priming for these associates was observed following color naming of words, but not pictures, providing further evidence that the color-shape associations responsible for the differing effects obtained in experiments 1 and 2 are due to the automatic activation of color-shape associations at different levels of representation.

Comprehension of arithmetic word problems by fifth-grade pupils: representations and selection of information.

Understanding word problems leads to the construction of different levels of representation. Some levels specify the elements which are indispensable for solving the problem (problem model, PM) and others specify the agents, actions and events in everyday concepts (situation model, SM). By studying how the information is selected, we try to specify the nature of the representations constructed during the reading of a word problem: understanding a problem leads to the construction of two complementary levels of representation (PM and SM) or to the construction of only one representation (PM)? Ninety-one fifth-grade pupils (mean age 10 years 9 months) took part in this study and were divided into two groups according to their mathematical ability. As well as the information considered as indispensable for solving the problems (solving information), different types of information (situational information) were introduced into standard word problems. In a first task, participants were asked to select the information in order to 'make the word problem as short as possible' (locate the elements used for developing PM). In a second task, they were asked to select the information in order to 'make the word problem easier to understand' (determine whether the participants developed a SM). The participants successfully differentiated between the solving information and the situational information. An interaction was also observed between the type of information and the task. The mathematical ability of the participants was seen to have an influence on the selection of situational information. Understanding leads to the construction of two complementary representation levels: the problem model and the situation model.

Representation of the cell and its processes in high school students: An integrated view

This paper presents an integrated view of the ideas and conceptual problems of high school students with respect to the cell, its processes, structure and relation to the functions of multicellular organisms. The theme of cell has divided into eight topics, with a questionnaire for each topic. In these topics, different levels of representation and understanding are distinguished between general considerations about plants and animals, those connected with processes at organ and system levels and, finally, the level of cell processes. Data from 1200 students were analysed. Results show that students have an analogical mechanism that establishes an isomorphism between the representation of the functioning of multicellular organisms of cell processes. A series of problems in understanding was also shown. Results imply that these problems are mainly due to students' lack of differentiation between some processes at organism and organ level, and have important implications for learning this subject. Finally, some suggestions are made for teaching.

Part of speech mismatches in modular grammar

The Jingulu language of central-northern Australia presents some difficulties in terms of classifying certain of its lexemes into part of speech categories. Personal names, for instance, which should be nouns on notional grounds, have the phonological and morphosyntactic properties of interjections, whilst notionally verbal roots are distinctly non-verbal in their distribution. These phenomena are analysed according to the principles of autolexical syntax, wherein different levels of representation of the same linguistic item (morphem, word, phrase and so forth) need not necessarily correspond to one another exactly.

Constructing an account by contrast in counselling for childhood genetic testing

Genetic counselling sessions are rich and complex sites of accounting practices for decision-making in which clinicians are meant to facilitate rather than control the decisions made by their clients. This often means the adoption of a non-directive stance as counsellors lay out various possible courses of action from which the client can choose, while both client and counsellor may need to bear in mind a wide range of practical and ethical issues. With regard to childhood predictive testing, the complexity of decision-making is manifest not only in relation to the severity of the genetic condition being discussed, but also in terms of who controls the information, who might be affected by it and who makes decisions on whose behalf. In this paper we use discourse analytic methods to examine a single case where the clinician and the parent negotiate decisions about childhood testing and the extent to which the parent can influence this process. In discursive terms, we show how the child's future autonomy is juxtaposed against the parent's current rights. In order fully to understand the various characters and events deployed in the accounting practices of the parent and the genetic counsellor, we focus on one rhetorical device, i.e., contrast, as it is manifest at different levels of representation. We conclude that the interplay between a selected set of the contrast pairs contributes towards recursive interactional patterns as far as non-directive counselling is concerned, and consequently has implications for procedural outcomes.

Levels of representation in the electrophysiology of speech perception

AbstractMapping from acoustic signals to lexical representations is a complex process mediated by a number of different levels of representation. This paper reviews properties of the phonetic and phonological levels, and hypotheses about how category structure is represented at each of these levels, and evaluates these hypotheses in light of relevant electrophysiological studies of phonetics and phonology. The paper examines evidence for two alternative views of how infant phonetic representations develop into adult representations, a structure‐changing view and a structure‐adding view, and suggests that each may be better suited to different kinds of phonetic categories. Electrophysiological results are beginning to provide information about phonological representations, but less is known about how the more abstract representations at this level could be coded in the brain.

A level of stimulus representation model for auditory detection and attention.

A model is offered here to address an asymmetry of cueing in signal detection [Hafter et al. (1992)] where the effect of frequency uncertainty on the detection of a randomly chosen tone was ameliorated by cueing with a sequence of its harmonics, but detection of a randomly chosen sequence of harmonics was not improved by cueing with their fundamental. The model proposes that signal detection can be based on various levels of neural representation that, for the case at hand, refer to levels organized either by frequency or by complex pitch. Experiments offered to test the model used three-tone complexes for both cues and signals. These stimuli consisted of either three randomly chosen frequencies or three randomly chosen harmonics (from the set 2 f1 to 7 f1) of a randomly chosen fundamental. Support for the idea of cueing and detection at different levels of representation was found in higher performance with uncued detection of harmonic complexes relative to that found with complexes of unrelated tones and by successful cueing of each type of information with cues created to remove uncertainty about the relevant information. A final comparison suggests independence of performance (presumably of the limiting noise) at each of the putative levels of representation.

Levels of representation in the electrophysiology of speech perception

Mapping from acoustic signals to lexical representations is a complex process mediated by a number of different levels of representation. This paper reviews properties of the phonetic and phonological levels, and hypotheses about how category structure is represented at each of these levels, and evaluates these hypotheses in light of relevant electrophysiological studies of phonetics and phonology. The paper examines evidence for two alternative views of how infant phonetic representations develop into adult representations, a structure-changing view and a structure-adding view, and suggests that each may be better suited to different kinds of phonetic categories. Electrophysiological results are beginning to provide information about phonological representations, but less is known about how the more abstract representations at this level could be coded in the brain.

Synthesis of reactor networks in overall process flowsheets within the multilevel MINLP approach

This paper presents the superstructure-based mixed-integer non-linear programming approach to the synthesis of reactor networks in an equation-oriented environment. The model comprises a general superstructure in which the exact formulation of the recycle reactor (RR) and a continuous stirring tank reactor (CSTR) are embedded so as to enable a different feeding (cross flow, side stream), recycling and bypassing. The reactor arrangement is capable of representing several reactor systems such as a pure CSTR, a pure plug flow reactor, pure RR, their combinations and also a cross flow reactor. The superstructure is suitable either for an isothermal or non-isothermal, simple or complex reactor network. With the multilevel-hierarchical strategy, it is possible to postulate the superstructure at different levels of representation of flowsheet alternatives. Therefore, the superstructure is optimized more effectively and reliably. The approach has been applied to a complex non-isothermal reaction problem — an industrial example of the production of allyl chloride.

Detecting changes in aerial views of man-made structures

An important application of machine vision is to provide a means to monitor a scene over a period of time and report significant changes. Comparing intensity values of successive images is not effective as such changes do not necessarily reflect actual changes at a site but might be caused by changes in the view point and illumination. We also want to ignore seasonal changes and focus on structural changes instead. We take the approach of comparing a 3-D model of the site, prepared from previous images, with new images to infer significant changes. This task is difficult as the images and the models have very different levels of abstract representations. Our approach consists of several steps as follows: model to image registration aims to bring the site model and the images into close correspondence; model validation to confirm the presence of model objects in the image; structural change detection seeks to resolve matching problems and provide cues indicating possibly changed structures; model updating aims to suggest modified models for existing model structures; and to incorporate new models. Our system is able to detect changes, such as missing (or mis-modeled) buildings, changes in model dimensions, and new buildings under some conditions. Several experimental results are presented.

The ontogeny of phonological categories and the primacy of lexical learning in linguistic development.

In this paper, we draw on recent developments in several areas of cognitive science that suggest that the lexicon is at the core of grammatical generalizations at several different levels of representation. Evidence comes from many sources, including recent studies on language processing in adults and on language acquisition in children. Phonological behavior is influenced very early by pattern frequency in the lexicon of the ambient language, and we propose that phonological acquisition might provide the initial bootstrapping into grammatical generalization in general. The phonological categories over which pattern frequencies are calculated, however, are neither transparently available in the audiovisual signal nor deterministically fixed by the physiological and perceptual capacities of the species. Therefore, we need several age-appropriate models of how the lexicon can influence a child's interactions with the ambient language over the course of phonological acquisition.

On the Myth of Automatic Semantic Activation in Reading

Visual word recognition is widely considered to be automatic in the sense that activation of meaning occurs both in the absence of intent and despite the reader's intent to not read the word. New evidence from the semantic priming paradigm and the Stroop paradigm undermines this view. Semantic processing depends strongly on attentional control over how activation is distributed across different levels of representation.

Rognonnades et cochonneries ou la chair sacrifiée du cochon

«“Rognon à la mode" : Her Horniness the Pig’s Sacrificial Flesh » When the flesh becomes picture, we attend the birth of different levels of representation. Actualy, the flesh, this unthinkable witch constitutes us and through wich we live, establishes a dialectic of pleasure and death, unsizable as a concept or a philosophical idea. Thus, it’ s around the pig figure as a image of the human being that the work of re-presentation is articulated. Redoundante and monstruous, funny and tragic, this figure is able to cristalise questions of sexe, erotism and death on a distanced mode witch allows laugh and derision.

Group collaboration effects and the explicitness of children's knowledge

In a recent model of cognitive development, Karmiloff-Smith (1992) alerts us to levels of cognitive development at which children's understanding of a problem can be implicit, or can be particularly resistant to input and disconfirmatory evidence. At the same time, numerous studies have illustrated the beneficial effects of working in small groups on children's learning. This study asks whether the benefits of group work are available to children who have different levels of representation about balancing an object on a fulcrum, and in particular whether children who use a “center” strategy for balancing derive less benefit from social processes than children at other levels. A balance beam task was used to explore 5 to 7 year old children's behavior and to categorise them according to levels of representation derived from Karmiloff-Smith's model. The 103 children then worked in groups either with others classified at the same or at a different level of representation. Subsequently, children were post-tested individually and classified again. More children were found to benefit from group discussion when they were with children at different levels to themselves. However, this effect was not found for children with a “center theory” who were predicted to be resistant to input or disconfirmatory evidence. This supports Karmiloff-Smith's claim for a level of knowledge which is resistant to input, and adds a cautionary note to the literature advocating group collaboration, since the benefits may not be the same for all children.

Sémantique cognitive de l'action : 1. contexte théorique

This paper presents the results of a study associating linguists and psychologists interested in the representation of the meaning of lexical items. The different theories proposed in the literature are discussed : semantic primitives, componential analysis, schemas... A general conception of a cognitive analysis of meaning is proposed : The Applicative and Cognitive Grammar. In this theory different levels of representation are defined : primitives which are the basic components of the description of meaning, semantico-cognitive schemes which are organizations of semantic primitives and which represent a given acceptation of a lexical item in a given context, cognitive archetypes which represent the structure of the different acceptations of a lexical item, and semantico-cognitive fields which represent the similarities of meaning of groups of lexical items .

Multilevel-hierarchical MINLP synthesis of process flowsheets

The objective of this contribution is to propose a multilevel-hierarchical approach to the MINLP synthesis of process flowsheets. Following a hierarchical strategy, the designer can postulate the superstructure at different levels of representation of flowsheet alternatives and model it at the corresponding level of aggregation and complexity. By the use of the prescreening procedure the superstructure is optimized more effectively and reliably. The approach enables one to address different process operations like reactions, connectivity and species allocation, separation, energy and heat integration and HEN through simultaneous superstructure optimization.