A conceptual space is a geometric structure that represents a number of

quality Quality may refer to: Concepts *Quality (business), the ''non-inferiority'' or ''superiority'' of something *Quality (philosophy), an attribute or a property *Quality (physics), in response theory *Energy quality, used in various science discipli ...

dimension In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a Space (mathematics), mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any Point (geometry), point within it. Thus, a Line (geometry), lin ...

s, which denote basic features by which concepts and objects can be compared, such as

weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity. Some standard textbooks define weight as a Euclidean vector, vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weigh ...

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

, pitch, and the three ordinary spatial dimensions.Kriegeskorte, N., & Kievit, R. A. (2013). Representational geometry: Integrating cognition, computation, and the brain. ''Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 17''(8), 401–412. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2013.06.007 In a conceptual space, ''points'' denote objects, and ''regions'' denote concepts. The theory of conceptual spaces is a theory about

concept learning Concept learning, also known as category learning, concept attainment, and concept formation, is defined by Jerome Bruner, Bruner, Goodnow, & Austin (1967) as "the search for and listing of attributes that can be used to distinguish exemplars from ...

first proposed by

Peter Gärdenfors Björn ''Peter'' Gärdenfors (born 21 September 1949) is professor of cognitive science at the University of Lund, Sweden. Gärdenfors is a recipient of the Gad Rausing Prize (Swedish: ''Rausingpriset''). He received his doctorate from Lund Univ ...

.Foo, N. (2001). Conceptual Spaces—The Geometry of Thought. ''AI Magazine, 22''(1), 139–140. Retrieved fro

/ref> It is motivated by notions such as conceptual Similarity (psychology), similarity and

prototype theory Prototype theory is a theory of categorization in cognitive science, particularly in psychology and cognitive linguistics, in which there is a graded degree of belonging to a conceptual category, and some members are more central than others. It ...

. The theory also puts forward the notion that ''natural'' categories are

convex Convex or convexity may refer to: Science and technology * Convex lens, in optics Mathematics * Convex set, containing the whole line segment that joins points ** Convex polygon, a polygon which encloses a convex set of points ** Convex polytope ...

regions in conceptual spaces. In that if

x

and

y

are elements of a category, and if

z

is between

x

and

y

, then

z

is also likely to belong to the category. The notion of concept convexity allows the interpretation of the focal points of regions as category

prototypes A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

. In the more general formulations of the theory, concepts are defined in terms conceptual similarity to their prototypes. Conceptual spaces have found applications in both cognitive modelling and

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

.Chella, A., & Frixione, M., & Gaglio, S.; (1997). A Cognitive Architecture for Artificial Vision. ''Artificial Intelligence, 89''(1), 73–111. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0004-3702(96)00039-2

Notes

Cognition Semantic relations {{psychology-stub

See also

Notes