Quantum-like non-separability of concept combinations, emergent associates and abduction

Consider the concept combination ‘pet human’. In word association experiments, human subjects produce the associate ‘slave’ in relation to this combination. The striking aspect of this associate is that it is not produced as an associate of ‘pet’, or ‘human’ in isolation. In other words, the associate ‘slave’ seems to be emergent. Such emergent associations sometimes have a creative character and cognitive science is largely silent about how we produce them. Departing from a dimensional model of human conceptual space, this article will explore concept combinations, and will argue that emergent associations are a result of abductive reasoning within conceptual space, that is, below the symbolic level of cognition. A tensor-based approach is used to model concept combinations allowing such combinations to be formalized as interacting quantum systems. Free association norm data is used to motivate the underlying basis of the conceptual space. It is shown by analogy how some concept combinations may behave like quantum-entangled (non-separable) particles. Two methods of analysis were presented for empirically validating the presence of non-separable concept combinations in human cognition. One method is based on quantum theory and another based on comparing a joint (true theoretic) probability distribution with another distribution based on a separability assumption using a chi-square goodness-of-fit test. Although these methods were inconclusive in relation to an empirical study of bi-ambiguous concept combinations, avenues for further refinement of these methods are identified.

Is there something quantum-like about the human mental lexicon?

This talk proceeds from the premise that IR should engage in a more substantial dialogue with cognitive science. After all, how users decide relevance, or how they chose terms to modify a query are processes rooted in human cognition. Recently, there has been a growing literature applying quantum theory (QT) to model cognitive phenomena. This talk will survey recent research, in particular, modelling interference effects in human decision making. One aspect of QT will be illustrated - how quantum entanglement can be used to model word associations in human memory. The implications of this will be briefly discussed in terms of a new approach for modelling concept combinations. Tentative links to human adductive reasoning will also be drawn. The basic theme behind this talk is QT can potentially provide a new genre of information processing models (including search) more aligned with human cognition.

Testing for the non-separability of bi-ambiguous compounds

Separability is a concept that is very difficult to define, and yet much of our scientific method is implicitly based upon the assumption that systems can sensibly be reduced to a set of interacting components. This paper examines the notion of separability in the creation of bi-ambiguous compounds that is based upon the CHSH and CH inequalities. It reports results of an experiment showing that violations of the CHSH and CH inequality can occur in human conceptual combination.

Quantum theory beyond the physical : information in context

Measures and theories of information abound, but there are few formalised methods for treating the contextuality that can manifest in different information systems. Quantum theory provides one possible formalism for treating information in context. This paper introduces a quantum-like model of the human mental lexicon, and shows one set of recent experimental data suggesting that concept combinations can indeed behave non-separably. There is some reason to believe that the human mental lexicon displays entanglement.

The role of non-factorizability in determining "pseudo-classical" non-separability

This article introduces a “pseudo classical” notion of modelling non-separability. This form of non-separability can be viewed as lying between separability and quantum-like non-separability. Non-separability is formalized in terms of the non-factorizabilty of the underlying joint probability distribution. A decision criterium for determining the non-factorizability of the joint distribution is related to determining the rank of a matrix as well as another approach based on the chi-square-goodness-of-fit test. This pseudo-classical notion of non-separability is discussed in terms of quantum games and concept combinations in human cognition.

Non-compositional concepts and quantum tests

Compositionality is a frequently made assumption in linguistics, and yet many human subjects reveal highly non-compositional word associations when confronted with novel concept combinations. This article will show how a non-compositional account of concept combinations can be supplied by modelling them as interacting quantum systems.

Total Dik - Transmedia Concept development

Total Dik! is a collaborative project between the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Queensland Theatre Company (QTC). Total Dik! explores transmedia storytelling in live performance from concept development to delivery and builds on works, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, (Forrester2012), Hotel Modern’s Kamp (2005) and God’s Beard (2012) that use visual art, puppetry, music and film. The project’s first iteration enabled an interrogation of the integration of media-rich elements with live performers in a theatrical environment. Performative transmedia storytelling draws on the tenets of convergent media theory developed by Jenkins (2007, 2012), Dena (2010) and Philips (2012). This exploratory work, juxtaposing transmedia storytelling techniques with live performance, draws on Samuel Becket’s challenges to theatre orthodoxy, and touches on Brechtian notions of alienation through ‘sleight-of-hand’ or processual unpacking and deconstruction during performance. Total Dik! blends a convergence of technologies, models, green screen capture, and live dimensions of performance in one narrative allowing the work’s creators to test new combinations of transmedia storytelling techniques on a traditional performance platform.

Significance of social cognitive remediation therapy within a comprehensive treatment concept

Objectives: The final goal in the successful treatment of schizophrenia patients is defined in improved functional recovery. Thus the integration of social cognitive tasks within a comprehensive treatment concept should offer significant advantages in generalization and transfer of therapy effects. Recent therapy outcome research supports these advantages. Empirical modeling identified social cognition as a mediating factor between neurocognition and functional recovery. Regarding this, we first developed the Integrated Psychological Therapy Program (IPT). It consists of 5 subprograms and combines interventions on neurocognition, social cognition, and social competence. As a further development of the cognitive part of IPT we developed the Integrated Neurocognitive Therapy (INT), which focuses on all social and neurocognitive domains defined by MATRICS. Methods: The aim was to investigate whether the application of the complete IPT is superior in comparison to the use of single IPT subprograms. Data were based on 37 independent IPT studies including a total sample of 1692 schizophrenia patients. Additionally, the proximal outcome in cognitive domains as well as in more distal outcome areas was investigated in an international RCT on INT including 169 schizophrenia outpatients. Results: All IPT subprogram variations obtained significant effects in proximal outcome. Each subprogram domain reached the largest effects in the targeted area. With regard to distal outcomes, combinations of subprograms showed a significant reduction of negative symptoms and an improvement in not targeted areas of functioning. This strongly supports vertical generalization effects to other functional domains. Regarding INT, results support efficacy compared to TAU in various cognitive domains, in psychosocial functioning and symptoms after therapy and at 1-year-follow-up. Conclusion: Results support evidence for the efficacy of longer lasting integrated therapy. The success of these treatment concepts is strongly based on successful therapy of social cognitive functions.

Goal Orientation Profiles and Self-Concept of Secondary School Students

The objective of this study is to identify possible combinations of multiple goals that lead to different goal orientation profiles and to determine whether there are significant group differences in self-concept dimensions. The Achievement Goals Tendencies Questionnaire (AGTQ) and the Self-Description Questionnaire-II (SDQ-II) were administered to a sample of 2,022 students of Compulsory Secondary education, ranging in age from 12 to 16 years (M = 13.81, SD = 1.35). Cluster analysis identified four profiles of motivational goals: a group of students with a generalized high motivation profile, a group of students with generalized low motivation profile, a group of students with a predominance of learning goals and achievement goals, and a last group of students with a predominance of achievement goals and social reinforcement goals. Results reveal statistically significant differences among the profiles obtained regarding self-concept dimensions.

Establishing Correspondences between Attribute Spaces and Complex Concept Spaces Using Meta-PGN Classifier

In this paper, we present one approach for extending the learning set of a classification algorithm with additional metadata. It is used as a base for giving appropriate names to found regularities. The analysis of correspondence between connections established in the attribute space and existing links between concepts can be used as a test for creation of an adequate model of the observed world. Meta-PGN classifier is suggested as a possible tool for establishing these connections. Applying this approach in the field of content-based image retrieval of art paintings provides a tool for extracting specific feature combinations, which represent different sides of artists' styles, periods and movements.