Mapping the NEW (VIRTUAL RELATIONAL) WORLD: Concept Maps {Re:SYN1-Maps}

CONCEPT MAPS

REMINDER: This continuing post, which will also always begin with the identifier {Re:SYNx-Maps, where x=1to7}, will concentrate only on annotated text outlines and/or charts or tables or other graphic formats, i.e. “Maps”.

While reading the present brief post which is constructed via excerpts from a paper of Novak and Cañas on “Concept Maps”, refer also to our preceding post, http://relatedone.blogspot.com/2008/05/mapping-new-virtual-relational-world.html

FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2008
Mapping the NEW (VIRTUAL RELATIONAL) WORLD: Formal/Theoretical Sketches Initially Focused on SynMIND {Re:SYN7-Maps}

specifically the section on Relationalgraphs. Note that the notion of “Relation” as in the present post with varying names such as relationships or connecting lines or links, in Relational Systems terminology is of the Mono-Relational Form. Contrast this with the defining form for Tri-Relation and imagine a further level either within a Concept Map or as an extended kind of Concept Map in which Relations may exist between these links. This will indicate (suggest or point to) what is expected as the ultimate form of signification (mapping) of the NEW (VIRTUAL RELATIONAL) WORLD.

THE THEORY UNDERLYING CONCEPT MAPS AND HOW
TO CONSTRUCT AND USE THEM

Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 01-2008
Joseph D. Novak
Professor Emeritus, Cornell University
and
Senior Research Scientist
Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC)
Alberto J. Cañas
Associate Director
Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC)

http://www.blogger.com/www.ihmc.us

Introduction

Concept maps are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They include concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and relationships between concepts indicated by a connecting line linking two concepts. Words on the line, referred to as linking words or linking phrases, specify the relationship between the two concepts. We define concept as a perceived regularity in events or objects, or records of events or objects, designated by a label. The label for most concepts is a word, although sometimes we use symbols such as + or %, and sometimes more than one word is used. Propositions are statements about some object or event in the universe, either naturally occurring or constructed. Propositions contain two or more concepts connected using linking words or phrases to form a meaningful statement. Sometimes these are called semantic units, or units of meaning. Figure 1 shows an example of a concept map that describes the structure of concept maps and illustrates the above characteristics.

Fig 1

Revised January 22, 2008. Cite as: “Novak, J. D. & A. J. Cañas, The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them, Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 01-2008, Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, 2008, available at:

http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.pdf