Mehdi Dastani and Bipin Indurkhya
Abstract
We extend Leeuwenberg's Structural Information Theory (SIT) to an
algebraic framework, where domain-dependant operators are allowed to
become part of perceptualgestalts. Using the SIT notation of
information load, we provide a structural notion of similarity and
categorisation. We introduce two complexity measures, namely
descriptor complexity and member complexity, which drive
categorisation to opposite extremes, and propose a simple additive
function to find the optimum balance between the two. We remark on how context effect in similarity and categorisation can be modelled in our approach. Finally, we examine some implications of our work for empirical work on categorisation and similarity.