| dc.description.abstract | Concepts are the building blocks of higher-order cognition
and consciousness. Building on Conceptual Spaces Theory
(CST) and proceeding from the assumption that concepts are
inherently dynamic, this paper provides historical context to
and significantly elaborates the previously offered Iterative
Subdivision Model (ISDM) with the goal of pushing it toward
empirical testability. The paper describes how agents in con tinuous interaction with their environment adopt an inten tional orientation, estimate the utility of the concept(s)
applicable to action in the current context, engage in practical
action, and adopt any new concepts that emerge: a largely
pre-intellectual cycle that repeats essentially without interrup tion over the conceptual agent’s lifetime. This paper elaborates
utility optimization by establishing three constraints on con cept formation/evaluation – non-redundancy, distinctiveness,
and proportionality – embedding them in a quasi mathematical model intended for development into a formal
logic. The notion of a distinctor – a quality dimension of the
conceptual space in focus at any given time, used for making
what we call a difference distinction – is key. The primary
contribution of the revised ISDM is the way it relates concepts
to action via utility optimization/actualization and the way it
describes the emergence of quality dimensions through trial by-action (trial and error), something previous presentations of
CST have failed to address | vi |
