Activation of situated conceptualizations

When a situated conceptualization becomes active, it constitutes a rich source of prediction via this pattern completion inference mechanism. A situated conceptualization is essentially a pattern, namely, a complex configuration of multi-modal components that represent a familiar situation. When a component of this pattern matches something experienced in the environment, the larger pattern becomes active in memory. The remaining pattern components—not yet experienced—constitute inferences, namely, educated guesses about what might occur next. Because the remaining components co-occurred frequently with the perceived components in previous situations, inferring the remaining components is plausible. When a partially viewed situation activates a situated conceptualization, the conceptualization completes the pattern that the situation suggests.

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