Concepts as plug & play devices

Abstract

Research on concepts has focused on categorization. Categorization starts with a stimulus. Equally important are episodes that start with a thought. We engage in thinking to draw out new consequences from stored information, or to work out how to act. Each of the concepts out of which thought is constructed provides access to a large body of stored information. Access is not always just a matter of retrieving a stored belief (semantic memory). Often it depends on running a simulation. Simulation allows conceptual thought to draw on information in special-purpose systems, information stored in special-purpose computational dispositions and special-purpose representational structures. While the utility of simulation, prospection or imagination is widely appreciated, the role of concepts in the process is not well understood. This paper turns to cognitive and computational neuroscience for a model of how simulations enable thinkers to reach novel conclusions. Carried over to conceptual thought, the model suggests that concepts are ‘plug & play’ devices. The distinctive power of thought-driven simulation derives from the ability of concepts to plug into two kinds of structure at once: the combinatorial structure of a thought at one end and special-purpose structural representations at the other. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Concepts in interaction: social engagement and inner experiences’.

Concepts in interaction: social engagement and inner experiences

“…According to Shea [ 3 ], concepts are components of conscious thought that can be variously combined. In his paper, the author highlights that, while research on concepts typically focuses on the categorization of stimuli, we use concepts also to think about what to do, starting from thoughts rather than from external stimuli.…”

“…According to Shea [3], concepts are components of conscious thought that can be variously combined. In his paper, the author highlights that, while research on concepts royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rstb Phil.…”

“…While our theme issue focuses on the investigation of concepts and categorization through the lens of social interaction, it also has implications in other areas, for example, for research on metacognition [ 3 , 9 , 61 , 62 ], and theoretical perspectives such as ecological psychology and extended cognition [ 5 , 63 , 64 ].…”

“…They are the 'glue' that connects our past, present and future experience [1]. Concepts are typically investigated in two ways: in their relation to categorization-they can be considered as the cognitive and mental aspects of categories-and as instruments of thought [2,3]. In this theme issue, we address concepts with a multifaceted approach: in their link with categorization, as means for thinking, and as 'architectures in the dynamic flow of situated language use' [4].…”

The origins of meaning – from pragmatic control signals to semantic representations

“…The patterns themselves may be arbitrary, multiply realisable, and subject to drift at the level of the firings of individual neurons (Buzsaki 2012;Buzsaki, 2019;Driscoll et al, 2022). In complex nervous systems at least, the things that come to act as symbols are the higher-order patterns at the level of neuronal ensembles or populations (Barack and Krakauer, 2021;Ebitz et al, 2021;Saxena et al, 2019;Shea, 2023). But the meaning of those currently active patterns is defined by the context of a distributed network of connections, which embody a set of relations learned through agential experience.…”