Several alternative interpretations of all-or~none processes for paired-associate learning and concept formation are examined. These models, along with a simple incremental process, are compared to data obtained in three-response and four-response paired-associate learning experiments. The results strongly favor a two~process model that postulates a distinction between long-term and short-term ...

Traditional machine learning algorithms have failed to serve the needs of systems for Programming by Demonstration (PBD), which require interaction with a user (a teacher) and a task environment. We argue that traditional learning algorithms fail for two reasons: they do not cope with the ambiguous instructions that users provide in addition to examples; and their learning criterion requires on...

Much human learning appears to be gradual and unconscious, suggesting a very limited form of search through the space of hypotheses. We propose hill climbing as a framework for such learning and consider a number of systems that learn in this manner. We focus on CLASSIT, a model of concept formation that incrementally acquires a conceptual hierarchy, and MAGGIE, a model of skill improvement tha...

Meaningfulness of the relevant (MR) and irrelevant (MI) syllables and contiguity of the relevant syllables were manipulated in a task analogous to concept formation. Stimuli consisted of two nonsense syllables with one being relevant, in that it was consistently paired with a number response, and the other being irrelevant, in that it appeared equally often with each number response. MR was var...

The quantity-quality debate in social sciences also concerns concept formation and operationalization. The first approach has strong naturalist assumptions, while the second one focuses on the historical specificity of concepts. The solution to overcome this divide would be finding a path which balances the two perspectives. In this article we argue that fuzzy set theory can be a helpful tool f...

In this paper I want to show why metaphor and metonymy are, on the one hand side, two distinct types of generating new meanings for existing expressions, and why, on the other hand, there are many cases which can either been viewed as metaphor or as metonymy, without the one way of understanding excluding the other. After having given a general characterization of metaphoric and metonymic conce...

It is clear we have disagreements from our esteemed colleagues on this important issue. The Kaufmann, Kraay, and Mastruzzi [hereafter KKM] response raises a number of insightful points that advance this debate. We thank them for that and for taking the time to engage our article. As we have reflected on our original essay and KKM’s critique of it, we were struck by the fact that we may actually...

Here we argue that the concept of strategies, as it was introduced into biology by John Maynard Smith, is a prime illustration of the four dimensions of theoretical biology in the postgenomic era. These four dimensions are: data analysis and management, mathematical and computational model building and simulation, concept formation and analysis, and theory integration. We argue that all four di...

Transcripts of oral arguments before the US Supreme Court provide interesting examples of creative legal reasoning. They illustrate, often in dramatic fashion, a sophisticated process of concept formation and testing driven by skillful posing of hypothetical examples. From the viewpoint of legal education, however, taking advantage of this resource presents challenges. The underlying processes ...

In concept learning, objects in a domain are grouped together based on similarity as determined by the attributes used to describe them. Existing concept learners require that this set of attributes be known in advance and presented in entirety before learning begins. Additionally, most systems do not possess mechanisms for altering the attribute set after concepts have been learned. Consequent...