?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Continuous+Formal+Systems%3A+A+Unifying+Model+in+Language+and+Cognition&rft.creator=MacLennan%2C+Bruce+J.&rft.subject=Artificial+Intelligence&rft.subject=Logic&rft.description=The+idea+of+a+calculus+or+discrete+formal+system+is+central+to+traditional+models+of+language%2C+knowledge%2C+logic%2C+cognition+and+computation%2C+and+it+has+provided+a+unifying+framework+for+these+and+other+disciplines.+Nevertheless%2C+research+in+psychology%2C+neuroscience%2C+philosophy+and+computer+science+has+shown+the+limited+ability+of+this+model+to+account+for+the+flexible%2C+adaptive+and+creative+behavior+exhibited+by+much+of+the+animal+kingdom.+Promising+alternate+models+replace+discrete+structures+by+structured+continua+and+discrete+rule-following+by+continuous+dynamical+processes.+However%2C+we+believe+that+progress+in+these+alternate+models+is+retarded+by+the+lack+of+a+unifying+theoretical+construct+analogous+to+the+discrete+formal+system.+In+this+paper+we+outline+the+general+characteristics+of+continuous+formal+systems+(simulacra)%2C+which+we+believe+will+be+a+unifying+element+in+future+models+of+language%2C+knowledge%2C+logic%2C+cognition+and+computation.+Therefore%2C+we+discuss+syntax%2C+semantics%2C+inference+and+computation+in+the+context+of+continuous+formal+systems.+In+addition%2C+we+address+an+issue+that+the+discrete+models+were+inadequate+to+address%3A+the+gradual+emergence+of+(approximately)+discrete+structures+from+a+continuum.+This+is+relevant+to+the+emergence+of+linguistic+structures%2C+including+semantics+and+syntax%2C+and+to+the+emergence+of+rule-like+regularities+in+behavior.&rft.publisher=Institute+of+Electrical+and+Electronic+Engineers%2C+New+York&rft.date=1995&rft.type=Conference+Paper&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpostscript&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F541%2F2%2FCFS-UMLC-tr.ps&rft.identifier=++MacLennan%2C+Bruce+J.++(1995)+Continuous+Formal+Systems%3A+A+Unifying+Model+in+Language+and+Cognition.++%5BConference+Paper%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F541%2F