<p>Semantic foraging in memory is another nice example: concepts in memory can be represented spatially as locations in multidimensional space, and the route we travel in that 'space' has a lot in common with the optimal foraging movements animals adopt.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.indiana.edu/~clcl/Papers/HTJ_Foraging.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.indiana.edu/~clcl/Papers/HTJ_Foraging.pdf</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-07T11:42:20.930Z
I was reading [Goldstone and Son's chapter on 'similarity' in the Cambridge Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning](http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/pdfs/similarity2004.pdf) the other day, where they discuss the geometric multidimensional scaling approach to similarity.

In a nutshell (the chapter describes it in detail), the theory holds that if you represent the values of relevant features of anything as independent dimensions, concepts can be located in high-dimensional space, and distances/relationships between them calculated geometrically.
Eoin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-08T16:50:29.167Z
2014-01-08T16:50:29.167Z
Eoin
<p>Here are a few off the top of my head from neuroscience:</p>

<ul>
<li>neural activity may primarily exist on low dimensional <a href="http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v16/n8/full/nn.3450.html" rel="nofollow">attractors</a>.</li>
<li>reconstructing PET signal origins from emitted gamma rays</li>
<li>It's widely believed our brains are gyrencephalic (wrinkly) to maximize surface area.</li>
<li>Various distance metrics (Euclidean, Mahalanobis) are common tools for clustering data, for example <a href="http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Spike_sorting" rel="nofollow">spike sorting</a>.</li>
<li>Neuron morphology (shape) follows function.</li>
<li>Microgeometry of objects is important for tactile texture perception.</li>
<li>Bat echolocation and fish electrosensation are limited in range due to the inverse square law.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-06T09:13:58.527Z
2014-01-06T09:13:58.527Z
Kyler Brown
<p>Though not a direct bridge between Linguistics and Cognitive Science, <a href="http://languagesindanger.eu/book-of-knowledge/writing/" rel="nofollow"><strong><em>Semasiographic</em></strong></a> communication systems are a ripe territory for the studio of <a href="http://philpapers.org/browse/mereology" rel="nofollow">Mereology</a>.</p>

<hr>

<p>Off-hand, consider:</p>

<p>Dewalque, A. <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11097-012-9293-8#page-1" rel="nofollow"><em>Brentano and the parts of the mental: a mereological approach to phenomenal intentionality.</em></a> <strong>Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences</strong>, September 2013, Volume 12, Issue 3, pp 447-464</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-08T22:23:33.047Z
Fascinating answers! I'd love to see a little elaboration here though, as I don't think the hyperlinked GRE-level vocab words are doing justice to your ideas, which come very unexpectedly and usefully from outside the proverbial box.
Nick Stauner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-06T14:41:38.603Z
2014-02-09T15:49:58.280Z
2014-02-09T15:49:58.280Z
New Alexandria
<p>The book Theories of Meaningfulness of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Narens" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Louis Narens</a> deals with Erlanger program, which is the connection between group theory and projective geometry.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-21T11:28:34.607Z
2018-04-21T11:28:34.607Z
Ooker
<p>What areas of geometry are used in psychology/cognitive science/neuroscience? Are the applications of a sophisticated nature or superficial?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-10T21:11:05.663Z
Do you count topics like the psychology of visual perception and gestalt psychology, or do you mean only areas where geometry is used to study a cognitive process which is not directly related to geometry itself? Because the first would be a very wide area, while the second interpretation will give you a more interesting list.
rumtscho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-06T08:00:57.983Z
Yes. 'Employed' in the study of.
Zeph
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-06T06:20:26.437Z
Do you consider general applications of linear algebra as geometry? Or must some specific geometric insights beyond that be used?
Artem Kaznatcheev
<cognitive-psychology><mathematical-psychology>
How has geometry been applied in cognitive science?
Zeph
# How has geometry been applied in cognitive science?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-06)

What areas of geometry are used in psychology/cognitive science/neuroscience? Are the applications of a sophisticated nature or superficial?

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, mathematical-psychology

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Yes. 'Employed' in the study of.  
> **username_2**: Do you consider general applications of linear algebra as geometry? Or must some specific geometric insights beyond that be used?  
> **username_1**: Do you count topics like the psychology of visual perception and gestalt psychology, or do you mean only areas where geometry is used to study a cognitive process which is not directly related to geometry itself? Because the first would be a very wide area, while the second interpretation will give you a more interesting list.  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-01-08. Score: 3

Semantic foraging in memory is another nice example: concepts in memory can be represented spatially as locations in multidimensional space, and the route we travel in that 'space' has a lot in common with the optimal foraging movements animals adopt.

<http://www.indiana.edu/~clcl/Papers/HTJ_Foraging.pdf>

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: I was reading [Goldstone and Son's chapter on 'similarity' in the Cambridge Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning](http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/pdfs/similarity2004.pdf) the other day, where they discuss the geometric multidimensional scaling approach to similarity.  In a nutshell (the chapter describes it in detail), the theory holds that if you represent the values of relevant features of anything as independent dimensions, concepts can be located in high-dimensional space, and distances/relationships between them calculated geometrically.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2014-01-06. Score: 3

Here are a few off the top of my head from neuroscience:

* neural activity may primarily exist on low dimensional [attractors](http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v16/n8/full/nn.3450.html).
* reconstructing PET signal origins from emitted gamma rays
* It's widely believed our brains are gyrencephalic (wrinkly) to maximize surface area.
* Various distance metrics (Euclidean, Mahalanobis) are common tools for clustering data, for example [spike sorting](http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Spike_sorting).
* Neuron morphology (shape) follows function.
* Microgeometry of objects is important for tactile texture perception.
* Bat echolocation and fish electrosensation are limited in range due to the inverse square law.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2013-12-06. Score: 1

Though not a direct bridge between Linguistics and Cognitive Science, [***Semasiographic***](http://languagesindanger.eu/book-of-knowledge/writing/) communication systems are a ripe territory for the studio of [Mereology](http://philpapers.org/browse/mereology).

---

Off-hand, consider:

Dewalque, A. [*Brentano and the parts of the mental: a mereological approach to phenomenal intentionality.*](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11097-012-9293-8#page-1) **Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences**, September 2013, Volume 12, Issue 3, pp 447-464

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: Fascinating answers! I'd love to see a little elaboration here though, as I don't think the hyperlinked GRE-level vocab words are doing justice to your ideas, which come very unexpectedly and usefully from outside the proverbial box.  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2018-04-21. Score: -1

The book Theories of Meaningfulness of [Louis Narens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Narens) deals with Erlanger program, which is the connection between group theory and projective geometry.


---

