LEMON

Language and Logic
LOGICAL AND LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF DIAGRAMMATIC REPRESENTATION

Advanced course

OLIVER LEMON

Department of Computer Science, Manchester University

Second week
lemonoj@cs.man.ac.uk

Course description

The aim of the course is to introduce linguistic issues and logical results in the analysis of diagrammatic representation (DR) and visual inference, with the use of examples. I will also discuss the main applications of such analyses, in knowledge representation, visual specification and programming languages, and representational issues in cognitive science. Emphasis will be on the application of formal semantics and complexity theory to the analysis of DRs. The course will be organised as follows:

Introduction: efficacy, contrasting diagrammatic with sentential languages, specificity, limited abstraction, spatiality, the constraint and availability hypotheses.
Formal semantics: expressive power of DR systems (eg: Euler's Circles). Topological constraints. Spatial logics and qualitative reasoning.
Computational complexity: diagrammatic reasoning and topological inference problems.
Further issues: logical and linguistic aspects of maps, hybrid/heterogeneous representations; error and verisimilitude of DRs.
Applications: use of the techniques introduced above to analyse diagram systems proposed in KR, visual programming, diagrammatic proof systems, cognitive science.

Prerequisites
None

Literature

A reasonable compendium of papers for background reading is Glasgow et al. 1995 "Diagrammatic Reasoning; cognitive and computational perspectives" AAAI Press/MIT Press.

Readers may consult http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/ai/oliver/mapsem.html for further papers and relevant information.

HOME PROGRAMME CONTACT REGISTRATION

Language and Logic	LOGICAL AND LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF DIAGRAMMATIC REPRESENTATION
Advanced course	OLIVER LEMON Department of Computer Science, Manchester University
Second week	lemonoj@cs.man.ac.uk
Course description	The aim of the course is to introduce linguistic issues and logical results in the analysis of diagrammatic representation (DR) and visual inference, with the use of examples. I will also discuss the main applications of such analyses, in knowledge representation, visual specification and programming languages, and representational issues in cognitive science. Emphasis will be on the application of formal semantics and complexity theory to the analysis of DRs. The course will be organised as follows: Introduction: efficacy, contrasting diagrammatic with sentential languages, specificity, limited abstraction, spatiality, the constraint and availability hypotheses. Formal semantics: expressive power of DR systems (eg: Euler's Circles). Topological constraints. Spatial logics and qualitative reasoning. Computational complexity: diagrammatic reasoning and topological inference problems. Further issues: logical and linguistic aspects of maps, hybrid/heterogeneous representations; error and verisimilitude of DRs. Applications: use of the techniques introduced above to analyse diagram systems proposed in KR, visual programming, diagrammatic proof systems, cognitive science.
Prerequisites	None
Literature	A reasonable compendium of papers for background reading is Glasgow et al. 1995 "Diagrammatic Reasoning; cognitive and computational perspectives" AAAI Press/MIT Press. Readers may consult http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/ai/oliver/mapsem.html for further papers and relevant information.