Conditions for Selection and Conceptualization in Diagrams and Sentences
Rossano Barone, Peter Cheng · Figshare · 2008
This paper considers several ways in which diagrams minimally designate the selection and conceptualization of information compared to sentential forms of external representation (ER). We group these factors as different ways that an ER designates cognitive engagement (DCE) and propose that this concept is important in distinguishing and understanding differences between different classes of ER. The article outlines components of a conceptual framework we are currently developing for characterizing expressions of information in diagrams and other classes of ER. The framework is employed to better understand the nature of DCE in diagrams and its semantic conditions. Our account of DCE is then used to shed light on three important characteristics of diagrammatic ERs: (1) the ill-defined nature of the information they express, (2) their rich potential for providing expressions and (3) their efficacy for tasks that are ill-defined in certain ways.