Kai-Uwe Carstensen

Spatio-temporal Ontologies and Attention

ABSTRACT This paper presents a new proposal for the design of spatio-temporal ontologies which has its origin in cognitively motivated spatial semantics. It is shown that selective attention not only plays a central role in the characterization of spatial relations but that the representation of attentional aspects also leads to the possibility of defining an ontological upper structure which systematically covers both the spatial and the temporal domain.

OSKAR - Ein PROLOG-Programm zur Modellierung der Stuktur und der Verarbeitung räumlichen Wissens

The paper presents an implemented PROLOG system (“OSKAR”) which simulates the structure and mode of operation of that subset of spatial knowledge which underlies the dimensional designation and the positioning of physical objects. It outlines the linguistic theory on which the implementation is based, gives an overview of OSKAR’s design and capacity, and sketches some possible extensions and modifications of the program.

Finding Adequate Routes for the Generation of Route Descriptions

Summary In developing a cognitive model for the generation of route descriptions one is faced with the general problem of how linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge sources interact. Specifically, one has to handle the so-called illterdependence problem: how is a route found that is not only the shortest possible but also adequate for verbalization? In this paper, a solution to the problem will be offered that lies between fully interacting interdependence and non-interacting modularity. The existence of aglobal planner which takes both spatial and linguistic criteria into consideration will be denied. Instead, it will be assumed that cOllceptual route knowledge serves as a mediator between sensorimotor and linguistic representations.