To build an Artificial Intelligence system that can assist us in daily lives, the ability to understand the world around us through visual input is essential. Prior studies train visual perception models by defining concept vocabularies and annotate data against the fixed vocabulary. It is hard to define a comprehensive set of everything, and thus…

In order to comprehend complex and abstract phenomena, students must partake in the process of learning by integrating complex and invisible components without ever physically encountering or manipulating such components. Prior knowledge and experiences will influence the way students assimilate and model new experiences and knowledge. If prior…

Spatial intelligence is an essential skill commonly used within various fields of science. Students with low spatial abilities frequently struggle to identify, retrieve, and apply key complex abstract information presented as multiple representations to actual three-dimensional natural materials and phenomena. Spatial ability may be considered a…

Skill acquisition theorists conceptualize second language (L2) learning as the acquisition of a set of perceptual, cognitive, and motor skills. The dominant view in skill acquisition theory is to regard L2 skill acquisition as a three-stage process "from initial representation of knowledge through initial changes in behavior to eventual…

Visual categorization is ubiquitous in many professions, yet training programs are typically time- and effort-intensive. This work focuses on developing methods to improve human learning and performance on challenging visual categorization tasks, e.g., bird species identification, diagnostic dermatology. As part of the general approach, we infer…

I conduct a study of learning in HMAX-like models, which are hierarchical models of visual processing in biological vision systems. Such models compute a new representation for an image based on the similarity of image sub-parts to a number of specific patterns, called prototypes. Despite being a central piece of the overall model, the issue of…

The purpose of this manuscript is, first and foremost, to present new research in the Information Systems realm that will support future research into perceptions of Visual Appeal in an online environment. In furtherance of these goals, the research draws on Composition Theory to articulate a two-essay research agenda. Composition Theory states…

This work is an attempt to give a unified theory in response to two questions. The first question arises in the philosophy of mind: what is the mechanism by which we think of objects in the world? The second is a question in the philosophy of language: what is the mechanism by which we speak of them? These are questions that some have treated…

After multiple reviews of the literature, which documented that multiple cognitive processes may be involved in mathematics ability and disability, Geary (1993) proposed a model that included three subtypes of math disability: Semantic, Procedural, and Visuospatial. A review of the extant literature produced three studies that examined Geary's…

This dissertation examines the cognitive processes individuals use when reading organic chemistry equations and factors that affect these processes, namely, visual complexity of chemical equations and participant characteristics (expertise, spatial ability, and working memory capacity). A six stage process model for the comprehension of organic…

The dissertation presents a theory of semantics and pragmatics for both language and vision. I focus on sentences including proper names, descriptions, and attitude report verbs, and on the Necker cube. I propose the Open Instruction Theory (OIT), according to which the linguistic meaning of a sentence and the semantic contribution of visual…