Overview
Representations in cognitive systems—or information-processing systems more generally—are implied by the existence of internal states between the system’s inputs and outputs. @2025icardResource distinguishes the following:
- In the most minimal sense of representation, there exist complex internal structures that “mediate” between perception and behavioral output; a system with this kind of representation is also called representation-hungry;
- In the sense used in philosophy and cognitive science, there exist stable, identifiable representational “vehicles” which are reliably associated with some kind of “meaning” or “content.”
Related notes:
Definitions of representation
- @1982marrVision: describing some aspect of reality with a useful symbol; more precisely, representation includes the set of symbols along with rules that determine how the representations are applied to a particular entity.