Title: Categorization from neurodynamical and psychological perspectives

  • Objective: categorization is the simplest higher order cognitive function and there are many experimental results waiting from explanation. It would be ideal if a theory base ond neurodynamics could predict results of these experiments and if we could compare these explanations with the usual psychological analysis of these experiments.
    I have tried to analyze some experiments, espceilaly the puzzling inverse based rate experiments, from the neurodynamical perspective in psychological spaces, and compared that with psychological explanations. It is clear that what all psychological explanations are not expressing neural dynamics, and should be treated as confabulations ...
  • Participants: W. Duch
  • Dates: 1996-present
  • Results:

    1. Duch W (1996) Categorization, Prototype Theory and Neural Dynamics, 113 KB.
      Proc. of the 4th International Conference on SoftComputing'96, Iizuka, Japan, ed. T. Yamakawa and G. Matsumoto, pp. 482-485 (invited paper, cognitive science session)

    2. Duch W (1997) Platonic model of mind as an approximation to neurodynamics, in: Brain-like computing and intelligent information systems, ed. S-i. Amari, N. Kasabov (Springer, Singapore 1997), chap. 20, pp. 491-512

    3. Presentation: Mind from brain: psychological spaces and neuroscience.
      Talk at Starlab, Belgium, 8.05.2001 (Power Point format).

    4. Presentation: Conscious mind as a limit of brain-like computing.
      Talk presented at the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists Conference, 17-21.09, 2003 (Power Point format).

    5. Presentation: Neurocognitive science: mind from brain? (PPT 2.4 MB)
      Neurocognitive Days, SWPS, Warsaw, Poland, 7.06.2006 (Power Point format).

    6. Itert L, Duch W, Pestian J, Influence of a priori Knowledge on Medical Document Categorization, | Abstract.
      IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Data Mining, IEEE Press, April 2007, pp. 163-170.

    7. Presentation: Mind from brain: physics & neuroscience (PPT 5.8 MB)
      Neuroscience Meets Theoretical Physics.
      Krakow, Jagiellonian University, Sept 25-26, 2008.

    8. Duch W, Matykiewicz P, and Pestian J, Neurolinguistic Approach to Natural Language Processing with Applications to Medical Text Analysis. | Abstract.
      Neural Networks 21(10), 1500-1510, 2008 (on-line from Science Direct).

    9. Dobosz K, Duch W. (2010) Understanding Neurodynamical Systems via Fuzzy Symbolic Dynamics.
      Neural Networks Vol. 23 (2010) 487-496, 2010
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neunet.2009.12.005

    10. Dobosz K, Duch W, Visualization for Understanding of Neurodynamical Systems.
      Cognitive Neurodynamics, 2011
      DOI: 10.1007/s11571-011-9153-1.
  • Related projects: Categorization, semantic spaces, consciousness, emotions, sensorimotor integration, transpersonal and philosophical issues.

  • Open problems:

    • In categorization experiments participants (humans and animals) intuitively learn a rule allowing to assign some objects to given categories. Neurodynamics responsible for such behaviour is undoubtedly very complicated, but in effect it may be reduced to selection of relevant attributes and (usually) simple logical rules; for example, if there are 3 attributes of objects in categorization experiments the simplest problem is when only one attributes decides to which category the object should be assigned. Find prototype dynamics for logical functions and all other behaviours underlaying categorization experiments.

    In inverse base rate experiments, is it possible to combine results of two simple associations based on AND, i.e. PC.and.I=C; PR.and.I=R, each in 3 dimensions, to obtain correct predictions for 5D (PC,PR,I,C,R) case with inverse base rates?

    Write longer paper, make proper simulations! Working log (local accsess only)