Cognitive Networks for Knowledge Modeling: A Gentle Introduction for Data‐ and Cognitive Scientists

TL;DR

This paper introduces cognitive network science, which uses network models to study how humans organize and process knowledge, language, and concepts.

Contribution

It provides a gentle introduction to cognitive networks and their applications in modeling associative knowledge and cognitive processes.

Findings

Cognitive networks can represent semantic, syntactic, and phonological relationships between concepts.

They offer measurable ways to study language processing, memory, and individual traits like creativity.

The paper reviews tools and datasets for building and analyzing cognitive networks.

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce the reader to the field of cognitive network science, that is, the application of network science methods to study human cognition and knowledge structures. Cognitive networks are representations of associative knowledge between concepts in a cognitive system apt at acquiring, storing, processing and producing language, that is, the mental lexicon. In a cognitive network, nodes represent concepts with links expressing relations, such as semantic, syntactic, phonological and visual connections, for example, “canine” and “dog” (nodes) linked by “being synonyms” (link). Hence, cognitive networks represent associative knowledge in mathematical, measurable and quantifiable ways. Can such structure be used to gain insights over cognitive phenomena? We explore this research question by reviewing recent, pioneering key applications and limitations of cognitive networks across visual, auditory, and semantic language processing tasks, either in healthy or clinical populations. We also review applications of cognitive networks modeling language acquisition, reconstructing text content and assessing creativity or personality traits in individuals. Our paper also gently introduces the reader to mathematical notations, definitions and measures about single‐layer and multiplex networks as well as hypergraphs. Last but not least, across phonological, semantic and syntactic networks, we guide the reader through relevant psychological frameworks, datasets and software packages that might all aid current and future cognitive network scientists.

This article is categorized under:
Psychology > MemoryPsychology > Theory and MethodsLinguistics > Cognitive

Psychology > Memory

Psychology > Theory and Methods

Linguistics > Cognitive

Cognitive network science helps organize associative knowledge—that is, the connections between concepts. These connections play a key role in cognitive processes such as language understanding and context interpretation, even though they are not obvious in language use. For example, we do not see syntactic links, as depicted in the figure, between words in a written or spoken text. Further information can be highlighted visually in cognitive representations, such as the emotional valence of words (here indicated with the colors blue for positive, red for negative, gray for neutral and purple for a connection between positive and negative concepts). Giving structure to knowledge via cognitive networks represents a new frontier. This gentle primer offers a clear overview and introduces tools for cognitive scientists and psychologists interested in exploring cognitive representations.

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