Computational Creativity

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rania A. Hodhod ◽  
Brian S. Magerko
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Computational Creativity ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Partial Matching ◽  
The Core ◽  
Cognitive Scripts ◽  
Blending Process ◽  
Mental Space ◽  
Emergent Structure

Conceptual blending (CB) is a basic mental operation that plays a fundamental role in the construction of meaning in our everyday life. The core of CB is the partial matching of two input mental spaces and the selective projection from those inputs into a novel 'blended' mental space, which then dynamically develops an emergent structure. Improvisational acting is one specialized domain in which conceptual blending is heavily used; improvisers are required to co-create stories on the stage in real time based on how they continuously perceive their environment. The Digital Improv Project has been engaged in a multi-year study of the cognitive processes involved in improvisational acting and has led to a better understanding of human cognition and creativity. In this article, the authors provide a computational model for the conceptual blending of cognitive scripts that can help digital improv agents to select the two input spaces required in the blending process. The blend is an emergent structure that provides new interesting events that the digital improv agents can adopt in their acting.

scholarly journals Conceptual integration theory and British humour: an analysis of the sitcom Miranda

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Jabłońska-Hood
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Meaning Construction ◽  
Integration Theory ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Conceptual Integration ◽  
Mental Space ◽  
Mental Spaces ◽  
Emergent Structure ◽  
Conceptual Integration Theory ◽  
Different Levels

Conceptual integration theory (henceforth CIT), aka conceptual blending, was devised by Fauconnier and Turner (2002) as a model for meaning construction and interpretation. It is based on the notion of a mental space, which originated in Fauconnier's early research (1998). Mental spaces are structures that constitute information pertaining to a particular concept (Fauconnier and Turner 2002: 40). Interestingly, mental spaces can be linked together and blended so as to produce a novel quality not previously present. In this manner, conceptual integration serves the purpose of a theoretical model which throws light on creativity in language use. In my paper, I will apply CIT to British humour in order to use its multiway blending together with its dynamic, online running of the blended contents for the purpose of comedy elucidation. It is crucial to observe that British humour is a complex phenomenon which pertains to many different levels of interpretation, i.e. a linguistic, cultural or a discourse one. CIT possesses a well suited cognitive apparatus which can encompass the complexity of British humour with all its layers. The primary goal of the article is to analyse a selected scene from a sitcom entitled Miranda in order to show the validity of the theory in respect of humour studies. In particular, I will undertake to demonstrate that CIT, with a special emphasis on its principles such as compression and the emergent structure of the blend can deal with many processes that accumulate within British humour and result in laughter. Simultaneously, I will try to demonstrate that frame-shifting, as proposed by Coulson (2015: pp. 167-190), can be of help to CIT in humour explanation.

Conceptual Blending in Theatrical Performance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsey Jacobson
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Theatrical Performance ◽  
Blending Process ◽  
Mental Space ◽  
Core Questions ◽  
Main Ideas ◽  
Blending Function

This project will be an examination of the potentialities of using conceptual blending to describe the cognitive processing that occurs when audience members engage in a theatrical event. Specifically, it will frame the processes using the play White Rabbit Red Rabbit by Nassim Soleimanpour, which itself examines the multiplicities of mental spaces required to engage in performance. In this project, I hope to examine conceptual blending and its relation to theatre, especially metatheatre, in which audience members must balance several levels of performance and reality in one theatrical event. There has been research conducted into relating blending theories with semantics, semiotics, and literature, in particular in the realm of metaphor in which a reader must maintain both the original and analogy in the same mental space in order to draw the comparison. The move towards theatre follows logically, as it encourages audiences to view a performance of fiction or imagination while balancing the 'real' quality of the actors, set pieces, or even words and story, as in verbatim and documentary performance, respectively. Considering these ideas, my core questions can be grouped around three main ideas: How does conceptual blending function when watching theatrical performance, specifically White Rabbit Red Rabbit? What specific moments in the script, performance, or audience experience in White Rabbit Red Rabbit prompt conceptual blending, or challenge our usual conceptual blending process? What implications are there for the use of conceptual blending or cognitive science in theatre for shaping audience perception?

Language and creativity: a Construction Grammar approach to linguistic creativity

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Evolutionary Adaptation ◽  
Theory Construction ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Cognitive Linguistic ◽  
Explanatory Account ◽  
The Way

AbstractCreativity is an important evolutionary adaptation that allows humans to think original thoughts, to find solutions to problems that have never been encountered before and to fundamentally change the way we live. One particular domain of human cognition that has received considerable attention is linguistic creativity. The present paper discusses how the leading cognitive linguistic theory, Construction Grammar, can provide an explanatory account of creativity that goes beyond the issue of linguistic productivity. At the same time, it also outlines how Construction Grammar can benefit from insights from Conceptual Blending.

scholarly journals Experimental Tests for Measuring Individual Attentional Characteristics in Songbirds

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2233
Author(s):  
Loïc Pougnault ◽  
Hugo Cousillas ◽  
Christine Heyraud ◽  
Ludwig Huber ◽  
Martine Hausberger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
European Starling ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
The Core ◽  
Cognitive Studies ◽  
Individual Variations ◽  
Species Specific

Attention is defined as the ability to process selectively one aspect of the environment over others and is at the core of all cognitive processes such as learning, memorization, and categorization. Thus, evaluating and comparing attentional characteristics between individuals and according to situations is an important aspect of cognitive studies. Recent studies showed the interest of analyzing spontaneous attention in standardized situations, but data are still scarce, especially for songbirds. The present study adapted three tests of attention (towards visual non-social, visual social, and auditory stimuli) as tools for future comparative research in the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), a species that is well known to present individual variations in social learning or engagement. Our results reveal that attentional characteristics (glances versus gazes) vary according to the stimulus broadcasted: more gazes towards unusual visual stimuli and species-specific auditory stimuli and more glances towards species-specific visual stimuli and hetero-specific auditory stimuli. This study revealing individual variations shows that these tests constitute a very useful and easy-to-use tool for evaluating spontaneous individual attentional characteristics and their modulation by a variety of factors. Our results also indicate that attentional skills are not a uniform concept and depend upon the modality and the stimulus type.

scholarly journals Writing with Automated Machines: Between Translation and Sabotage

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 73-81
Author(s):  
Ana Marques
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modes Of Representation ◽  
Evolution Of Technology

A generative text is a system constituted by non-conscious and conscious cognizers, digital and analogue processes, and mathematical and linguistic modes of representation. But how do algorithms cognize? And how is meaning constructed in a system where authorial intentions and readers’ experiences and interpretations are mediated by algorithmic agents? Through the analysis of How It Is In Common Tongues (Cayley and Howe, 2012), I intend to discuss the tensions that arise from the encounter between algorithmic and human cognition, and between the regimes of information and expression. Drawing on Katherine Hayles’ view on the cognitive non-conscious and Claude Shannon’s information theory I will start by establishing a distinction between information and meaning, between communication and expression, and between the regimes of information and of the literary. To reflect on the political ecology of digital mediation (situated in the informational regime of cybernetics), I will consider Matteo Pasquinelli’s perspective on the co-evolution of technology and economics, and discuss how algorithmic cognitive processes embody and reinforce the structures of contemporary cognitive capitalism. Finally, I will discuss the strategies of resistance enabled by aesthetic approaches to computation, such as the ones explored in this case study.

scholarly journals Creating Something Different: Similarity, Contrast, and Representativeness in Categorization

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Austerweil ◽  
Shi Xian Liew ◽  
Nolan Bradley Conaway ◽  
Kenneth J. Kurtz
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Category Learning ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Fundamental Importance ◽  
Concept Generation ◽  
Statistical Structure ◽  
Representativeness Heuristic ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Novel Approaches ◽  
Computational Analyses

The ability to generate new concepts and ideas is among the most fascinating aspects of human cognition, but we do not have a strong understanding of the cognitive processes and representations underlying concept generation. In this paper, we study the generation of new categories using the computational and behavioral toolkit of traditional artificial category learning. Previous work in this domain has focused on how the statistical structure of known categories generalizes to generated categories, overlooking whether (and if so, how) contrast between the known and generated categories is a factor. We report three experiments demonstrating that contrast between what is known and what is created is of fundamental importance for categorization. We propose two novel approaches to modeling category contrast: one focused on exemplar dissimilarity and another on the representativeness heuristic. Our experiments and computational analyses demonstrate that both models capture different aspects of contrast’s role in categorization.

Figurative language in multilingual students’ L2 Swedish – a usage-based perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-260
Author(s):  
Julia Prentice
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
Complex Interplay ◽  
Multilingual Students ◽  
The Core ◽  
Language Class ◽  
Pragmatic Information ◽  
Class Room ◽  
Regular Patterns ◽  
Figurative Expressions

Abstract The aim of the current paper is to reinterpret some results of two previous studies on the mastery of figurative expressions from the perspective of usage-based linguistics. The reanalysis aims to shed more light on the learning and use of figurative language by multilingual students by exploring the complex interplay of linguistic creativity, expressivity, and conventionality in figurative expressions. The reinterpretation shows that many of the examples that were previously categorized as novel figurative expressions used in students’ writing, can be analyzed as instances of regular patterns, i.e. constructions, with certain lexical idiosyncrasies. Modifications of conventionalized figurative expressions are discussed and reinterpreted in terms of strength of entrenchment of links between form and meaning within certain constructions or links between constructions and conventionalized pragmatic information in the multilinguals’ mental construction. Implications for the treatment of Swedish figurative expressions in the second language class room are, in line with previous research, that focusing on regularity might reduce unpredictability, often seen as the core difficulty in the learning of such expressions in an L2. The paper also offers some directions for further investigation of the socio-cognitive processes involved in the learning of figurative language in an additional language.

Software

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Assembly Language ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Basic Design ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
The Core ◽  
Alan Turing ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Digital Hardware ◽  
Logic Functions

Digital computers are “protean” in that they can become almost anything through software. Their basic design elements came from a 19th-century British tradition in logic, exemplified by Boole and Babbage. It seemed natural to have logic realized in hardware. This tradition culminated in the work of Alan Turing who proposed a universal computing machine, now called a Turing machine, based on logic. Although hardware that computes logic functions lies at the core of digital hardware, low-level practical machine operations are grouped together in “words.” Programs are based on hardware operations controlling computation at the word level. This chapter presents a detailed example of what a computer does when it actually “computes.” Because human cognition finds it hard to use such an alien device, there is a brief discussion of how programming became “humanized” with the invention of software tools like assembly language and FORTRAN.

Cognitive Issues in Bible Translation: The Biblical Text in the Context of Human Experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-56
Author(s):  
R. Daniel Shaw ◽  
Danny DeLoach ◽  
Jonathan Grimes ◽  
John O. Luchivia ◽  
Sheryl Silzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Behavior ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Interactive Environments ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
Cognitive Studies ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Relationship

Cognitive studies affect all disciplines that reflect the connection between the mind–brain and human behavior. To state the obvious, Bible translation is a multidisciplinary task influenced by cognitive processes. What, then, do Bible translators need to know about the intended communication of a biblical text on one hand and a people’s context-based inferences on the other? Can these disparate, but necessarily interactive, environments blend to reflect a totality of knowledge from the content of the biblical text? Together, the coauthors explore a variety of cognitive processes that reflect on the relationship between translation and human behavior. Our objective is to show how translated biblical text interfaces with human cognition to affect behavior in specific contexts.

Relational complexity metric is effective when assessments are based on actual cognitive processes

1998 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 848-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme S. Halford ◽  
William H. Wilson ◽  
Steven Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Developmental Differences ◽  
Connectionist Models ◽  
The Core ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Core Issue ◽  
Relational Complexity

The core issue of our target article concerns how relational complexity should be assessed. We propose that assessments must be based on actual cognitive processes used in performing each step of a task. Complexity comparisons are important for the orderly interpretation of research findings. The links between relational complexity theory and several other formulations, as well as its implications for neural functioning, connectionist models, the roles of knowledge, and individual and developmental differences, are considered.

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