We first consider definitions of a conceptual system, and then address the issue of whether conceptual representations are grounded in the sensory-motor systems of the brain, or whether they are implemented with arbitrary amodal symbols. After covering a theory of perceptual symbols, we review empirical evidence from cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience that bears on the perceptual grounding of knowledge. We then turn to the issue of abstraction. Of particular interest is whether concepts are abstracted from their background situations, or whether situations constitute an intrinsic aspect of conceptual knowledge. We then consider the organization of the conceptual system. At a micro-level, we will examine the frame-based organization of knowledge, and the dynamic construction of simulations from this knowledge to represent categories on specific occasions. At a macro-level, we will consider an architecture of goal-directed knowledge in which frames become bound to physical settings via a dynamical interface comprised of ad hoc categories.

Class 1: Definition of a Conceptual System and Perceptual Symbol Systems

Required Readings:

Barsalou, L.W. (1999). Perceptual symbol systems. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 577-609.

Damasio, A.R. (1989). Time-locked multiregional retroactivation: A systems-level proposal for the neural substrates of recall and recognition. Cognition, 33, 25-62.

Recommended Readings:

Pulvermüller, F. (1999). Words in the brain's language. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 253-336.

Goldstone, R., & Barsalou, L.W. (1998). Reuniting perception and conception. Cognition, 65, 231-262.

Barsalou, L.W. (1999). Perceptual symbol systems. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 610-660. [Commentary and response]

Class 2: Empirical Evidence that Bears on the Perceptual Grounding of Knowledge

Required Readings:

Barsalou, L.W., Solomon, K.O., & Wu, L.L. (1999). Perceptual simulation in conceptual tasks. In M.K. Hiraga, C. Sinha, & S. Wilcox (Eds.), Cultural, typological, and psychological perspectives in cognitive linguistics: The proceedings of the 4th conference of the International Cognitive Linguistics Association, Vol. 3. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Gainotti, G., Silveri, M.C., Daniele, A., & Giustolisi, L. (1995). Neuroanatomical correlates of category-specific semantic disorders: A critical survey. Memory, 3, 247-264.

Recommended Readings:

Wu, L., & Barsalou, L.W. (1999). Grounding concepts in perceptual simulation: I. Evidence from property generation. Under review.

Solomon, K.O., & Barsalou, L.W. (1999). Grounding concepts in perceptual simulation: II. Evidence from property verification. Under review.

Solomon, K.O., & Barsalou, L.W. (1999). Representing properties locally. Under review.

Tranel, D., Damasio, H., & Damasio, A.R. (1997). A neural basis for the retrieval of conceptual knowledge. Neuropsychologia, 35, 1319-1327.

Class 3: The Situated Character of Concepts

Required Readings:

Clark, A. (1997). Being there: Putting brain, body, and world together again. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [Chapters 1-4]

Yeh, W., & Barsalou, L.W. (1999). The situated character of concepts. Under review.

Recommended Readings:

Glenberg, A.M. (1997). What memory is for. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 20, 1-55.

Yeh, W., & Barsalou, L.W. (1999). Situation effects in concept learning. Under review.

Clark, A. (1997). Being there: Putting brain, body, and world together again. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [Chapters 5-11]

Class 4: Frame-Based Organization of Knowledge and Dynamic Conceptualization

Required Readings:

Barsalou, L.W. (1992). Frames, concepts, and conceptual fields. In E. Kittay & A. Lehrer (Eds.), Frames, fields, and contrasts: New essays in semantic and lexical organization (21-74). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Barsalou, L.W. (1989). Intraconcept similarity and its implications for interconcept similarity. In S. Vosniadou & A. Ortony (Eds.), Similarity and analogical reasoning (pp. 76-121). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Recommended Readings:

Smith, L.B., & Samuelson, L.K. (1997). Perceiving and remembering: Category stability, variability, and development. In K. Lamberts & D. Shanks (Eds.), Knowledge, concepts, and categories (161-196). East Sussex, UK: Psychology Press.

Barsalou, L.W., & Hale, C.R. (1993). Components of conceptual representation: From feature lists to recursive frames. In I. Van Mechelen, J. Hampton, R. Michalski, & P. Theuns (Eds.), Categories and concepts: Theoretical views and inductive data analysis (97-144). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Barsalou, L.W., Huttenlocher, J., & Lamberts, K. (1998). Basing categorization on individuals and events. Cognitive Psychology, 36, 203-272.

Barsalou, L.W., Yeh, W., Luka, B.J., Olseth, K.L., Mix, K.S., & Wu, L. (1993). Concepts and meaning. In In K. Beals, G. Cooke, D. Kathman, K.E. McCullough, S. Kita, & D. Testen (Eds.), Chicago Linguistics Society 29: Papers from the parasession on conceptual representations (pp. 23-61). University of Chicago: Chicago Linguistics Society.

Class 5: Mapping Event Frames to World Models during Goal Achievement

Required Readings:

Barsalou, L.W. (1991). Deriving categories to achieve goals. In G.H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 27, pp. 1-64). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. [Reprinted in A. Ram & D. Leake (Eds.), Goal-driven learning (1995, pp. 121-176). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press/Bradford Books]

Barsalou, L.W., & Borghi, A. (1999). The MEW theory of human activity: Evidence from concepts for settings, events, and situations. Under review.

Recommended Readings:

Vallée-Tourangeau, F., Anthony, S.H., & Austin, N.G. (1998). Strategies for generating multiple instances of common and ad hoc categories. Memory, 6, 555-592.

Barsalou, L.W. (1995). Storage side effects: Studying processing to understand learning. In A. Ram & D. Leake (Eds.), Goal-driven learning (407-419). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press/Bradford Books.

Small Groups
Group discussions, work in groups on experimental design and interpretation of results.

Assessment
Participant wishing to get credits for this course should write a paper on a topics on human conceptual system.

Lawrence Barsalou   is Professor of Psychology at Emory University. He received a bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego in 1977, and a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1981. Since then, he has held faculty positions at Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Chicago, returning to Emory in 1997. Barsalou's research addresses the nature of human knowledge, and its extensive roles in perception, memory, language, and thought. The theme of his current research is that sensory-motor mechanisms in the brain ground the human conceptual system. Other lines of research address the situated character of knowledge, the dynamic online construction of conceptual representations, the development of ad hoc categories to support goal achievement, the structure of knowledge, and category learning. His research has primarily been funded by the National Science Foundation. Barsalou won an award for graduate teaching from the University of Chicago; he has written a text book on cognitive psychology; he has served as an associate editor for the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human, Learning, and Memory; he has served on the review panel at the National Science Foundation for Human Cognition and Perception; he currently serves on the governing board for the Cognitive Science Society, and on the editorial boards for Cognition, Memory, and Cognitive Science. Further information on Barsalou's research projects, courses, and professional history can be found at http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~barsalou/Index.html, along with online publication of recent papers.