Compositionality in perception: A framework

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Psychology
• Philosophy of Mind

Background:

• Perception processes external information, raising questions about the representational format of this content.
• The concept of compositionality, where complex representations are built from simpler components, is a key area of inquiry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the compositional nature of perceptual representations.
• To differentiate the compositionality in perception from that found in language or thought.
• To establish compositionality as a framework for empirical research into perception.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of perceptual representation.
• Argumentation for a compositional view of perception.
• Framework development for empirical hypothesis testing.

Main Results:

• Perceptual systems widely represent features (e.g., shape, orientation, motion) as combinations of other features.
• Perceptual compositionality differs significantly from linguistic or cognitive compositionality.
• The thesis of perceptual compositionality serves as a framework, not a specific hypothesis.

Conclusions:

• Perception is fundamentally compositional, but the specific mechanisms require further investigation.
• Research should focus on *how* perceptual representations are composed to gain deeper insights.
• This framework facilitates the development and testing of empirical hypotheses about perceptual content.