Conceptual coordination bridges information processing and neurophysiology
Behavioral and Brain Sciences December 1, 2000 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x00334021 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Categorization Cognitive science Chunking psychology Modalities Comprehension Perception Neurophysiology Meaning existential Cognitive psychology Information processing Cognition Dream Linguistics Artificial intelligence |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key points | Proposes that dreaming is a story-understanding process missing two mechanisms (conceiving sequences and coordinating across modalities) and functions to facilitate future coordination of sequential, cross-modal categorization. |
Abstract
Information processing theories of memory and skills can be reformulated in terms of how categories are physically and temporally related, a process called conceptual coordination. Dreaming can then be understood as a story-understanding process in which two mechanisms found in everyday comprehension are missing: conceiving sequences (chunking categories in time as a higher-order categorization) and coordinating across modalities (e.g., relating the sound of a word and the image of its meaning). On this basis, we can readily identify isomorphisms between dream phenomenology and neurophysiology, and explain the function of dreaming as facilitating future coordination of sequential, cross-modal categorization (i.e., REM sleep lowers activation thresholds, “unlearning”). [Hobson et al.; Nielsen; Solms; Revonsuo; Vertes & Eastman]