Page 74 - Proceedings of the 2018 ITU Kaleidoscope

2018 ITU Kaleidoscope Academic Conference

the data element and its context. We describe below the four
processes and the related translation of the data elements into
memory and actions.

2.3.1. Conceptualization

Given a DE captured through the sensory system, the first
step in perceiving information related to the DE is conceptu-
alization of the DE. Thereby, the entity with these cognitive
skills (hereafter called the cognitive agent) makes a hypoth-
esis about what the DE is or may be. Through such a
conceptualization, the agent will for example decide if an
animal it sees could be a fat cat, a small lioness or a lion cab.
However, since such an initial conception of the DE may be
inaccurate, the DE must be further processed for accuracy.
The agent draws on its memory to crystalize the created
concept. For example, it matches what it has seen with its in- Figure 2: Cognition - a perception-reasoning pipeline
memory pictures to confirm that what it sees is actually a cat
and not a small lioness or its cab. through the logical operations (AND, OR, NOT) as well as
the linguistic information conjunctions (BUT, WHILE, NOT-
2.3.2. Contextualization WITHSTANDING, etc.). In the lioness example, consider
three IEs that could be evaluated alongside the “concept of a
The conceptualization identifies the isolated information that lioness” and the “African savannah context” – A: “I am
the DE delivers, but to choose the right course of action, the watching TV” or B: “I am out hunting” or C: “I am seated
DE must be put in the right context. The contextualization inside a vehicle on a tour excursion”. The inference step
evaluates the situational, environmental, and other infor- evaluates the truthfulness of the different combinations of
mation related with the DE to concretize the knowledge on the lioness DE and these IEs to derive the decision.
that DE. Besides being used for further processing, the con- Correspondingly, different decisions will be made if
text may also partly help to confirm the accuracy of the watching TV as opposed to when one is out hunting.
conceptualization or to at least increase the confidence level
thereof. E.g., if the observed big cat or small lioness is found 2.3.5. Memory operations and actioning
in the African wild, this context increases the possibility that
it is a lioness. And where the conceptualization was accurate, Each stage of the data processing cycle has access to the
contextualization guides the decision making to select the memory operations cycle. This cycle involves the four steps
most appropriate actions for the DE and its context. In the of Fetch(F), Read(R), Label(L) and Store(S). At the concep-
lioness case, different decisions will be made if the lioness is tualization state, it is mainly the label and store functions that
encountered in the wild African Savannah or in a zoo. are executed. The correctly conceptualized DE is appropri-
ately labeled (e.g. it is a cat or a lioness) and stored then in
2.3.3. Organization memory if necessary, e.g., if it is a new DE that is being
encountered for the first time. Fetching and reading is mainly
Given accurate perception of DEs, the organization step done after the conceptualization step. Thereby the agent
defines relations among DEs - making connections with needs to check what it has in memory either to confirm its
descriptive words like “is”, “is not”, “can”, “cannot”, “may”, perception of the object; or to create new and/or edit existing
etc. In the cat vs. lioness case, this step creates statements relationships for the DE; or to even derive actions among the
like: “the African savannah has lions roaming around”; “A many possible actions known to the agent. In respect of this,
lioness is dangerous”; “A cat can be dangerous”; etc. These a previously stored DE may also have to be updated, in which
are partly previously inferred conclusions that have been case the agent fetches and reads the DE before it relabels it
stored in memory although the organization step can also and stores it again.
create new connections among DEs. E.g., when one decides
two items are related without necessarily knowing how they At each process, actions are triggered in response to the
are related, such a realization is part of the DE organization respective stimuli, knowledge and/or understanding. Mostly,
step. It is logical to consider that the outcome of the organi- actions are triggered after contextualization, which explains
zation step is information organized in such a way that each the case of actions appropriate in one context being wrong if
connection is an Information Element (IE). taken in another context. E.g., one does not run on seeing a
lion in zoo because we contextualize that this is a zoo where
2.3.4. Inference the animal is caged. So, the zoo context does not allow for
the reflex action to be triggered. It may however be triggered
The inference step logically and arithmetically combines in cases where the contextualization is faulty or inappropri-
multiple DEs and IEs to create new IEs and relations. It ately developed e.g. in young kids.
undertakes the logical analysis of DEs and their relations

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