A computer model of context-dependent perception in a very simple world

Abstract

We propose the foundations of a computer model of scientific discovery that takes into account certain psychological aspects of human observation of the world. To this end, we simulate two main components of such a system. The first is a dynamic microworld in which physical events take place, and the second is an observer that visually perceives entities and events in the microworld. For reason of space, this paper focuses only on the starting phase of discovery, which is the relatively simple visual inputs of objects and collisions.

Keywords:

• Human perception
• scientific discovery
• computer model
• visual observation
• context

Acknowledgements

The majority of this research was carried out at Indiana University, mostly in the Percepts and Concepts Laboratory of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, but also partly at the Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition (CRCC). The most recent phases of the project were carried out at the Escuela Politécnica Nacional in Quito, Ecuador. Roughly 70% of the funding for this project came from National Science Foundation REESE grant 0910218, 20% from CRCC, and the remaining 10% from the Escuela Politécnica Nacional.

Notes

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation REESE [grant number 0910218]; CRCC; Escuela Politécnica Nacional.