ABOUT THIS BOOK

Why are diagrams sometimes so useful, facilitating our understanding and thinking, while at other times they can be unhelpful and even misleading? Drawing on a comprehensive survey of modern research in philosophy, logic, artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, and graphic design, Semantic Properties of Diagrams and Their Cognitive Potentials reveals the systematic reasons for this dichotomy, showing that the cognitive functions of diagrams are rooted in the characteristic ways they carry information. In analyzing the logical mechanisms behind the relative efficacy of diagrammatic representation, Atsushi Shimojima provides deep insight into the crucial question: What makes a diagram a diagram?

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Atsushi Shimojima is professor in the Faculty of Culture and Information Science at Doshisha University, Japan. He is coeditor of Logic, Language and Computation, Volume 3, also published by CSLI Publications.

REVIEWS

“Semantic Properties of Diagrams and Their Cognitive Potentials is a most welcome book that brings together the author’s various contributions to a ‘science of diagrams’ into one place under a clear, coherent, and unifying presentation. The book is likely to attract a wide readership among all the academic fields that contribute to the diagrams area. The first step towards a logical foundation for a science of diagrams is an important contribution to an area that continues to be of growing interest among many disciplines. Many potential readers will be interested in the question of what makes an effective representation or why are diagrams often more effective than sentential representations.”

— Peter Cheng, University of Sussex (UK)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover

Table of Contents

1.1 General Problem

1.2 Origin of This Book

1.3 Main Theme 1: Free Rides

1.4 Main Theme 2: Over-Specificity

1.5 Main Theme 3: Consistency Check

1.6 Main Theme 4: Derivative Meaning

1.7 Organization of This Book

1.8 The Reach of This Book

2.1.1 Hohauser (1982): Memory Maps

2.1.2 Barwise & Etchemendy (1991): Hyperproof Diagrams

2.1.3 Funt (1980): Block Drawings

2.1.4 Larkin & Simon (1987): Geometry Diagrams

2.1.5 Schön (1983): Design Sketches

2.1.7 Further Examples: Euler Diagrams

2.2.1 Representations and Source Types

2.2.2 The Representation Relation

2.2.3 Represented Objects and Target Types

2.2.4 The Indication Relation

2.2.5 Two-Tier Semantics

2.2.6 Constraints

2.3.1 Consequence Tracking

2.3.2 Application of the Notion to Specific Examples

2.4.1 Question: Who Does the Inference, Then?

2.4.2 Question: Is It Really Free?

2.4.3 Question: Is It Always Advantageous?

2.4.4 Question: Possibility of Invalid Rides?

2.5 Chapter Takeaways

3.1.1 Hohauser (1982): Memory Maps

3.1.2 Barwise & Etchemendy (1994): Hyperproof Diagrams

3.1.3 Barwise & Etchemendy (1991): Geometry Diagrams

3.1.5 Further Example: Euler Diagrams (Case 2)

3.2.1 Projection of Disjunctive Constraints

3.2.2 Application of the Notion to Specific Examples

3.3.1 Question: Isn't It an Artifact?

3.3.2 Question: Are Free Rides and Over-Specificity So Different?

3.4 Chapter Takeaways

4.1.1 Schön (1983): Cross-Section Diagrams

4.1.2 Barwise and Etchemendy (1994): Hyperproof Diagrams

4.1.3 Gelernter (1959): Geometry Diagrams

4.1.4 Barwise and Etchemendy (1995): Euler Diagrams

4.1.5 Further Examples: Bar Charts

4.2.1 Inconsistency Tracking

4.2.2 Application to Specific Cases

4.3.1 Question: Are They Really Auto-Consistent?

4.3.2 Question: Difference from the Standard Counter-Example Method?

4.3.3 Question: Unsoundness in Inconsistency Tracking?

4.3.4 Question: Diagrammatic Proof of Inconsistency?

4.4 Chapter Takeaways

5.1.1 Tufte (1983): Scatter Plots

5.1.2 Kosslyn (1994): Line Graphs

5.1.3 Pinker (1990): Bar Charts

5.1.4 Kinnear and Wood (1997): Contour Maps

5.1.5 Tufte (1983): Data Maps

5.1.6 Olivier (2001): Node-Edge Graphs

5.1.7 Further Examples: Round-Robin Tables

5.2.1 Abstraction Tracking

5.2.2 Application to Specific Cases

5.3.1 Question: Differences from Secondary Notations?

5.3.2 Question: Difference from Graphical Implicatures?

5.3.3 Question: Relevance to Cognitive Potentials?

5.3.4 Question: Too Many Cases of Abstraction Tracking?

5.4 Chapter Takeaways

6.1 Envisaging

6.2 Transfer of Spatial Analysis

6.3 Aspect Shifting

6.4 Law-Encoding Diagrams

6.5 Chapter Takeaways

7.1 Commonality of the Four Logical Properties

7.2 Implications of the Commonality

Appendix A: Additional Analyses of Free Ride Potentials

Appendix B: Analysis of a Derivative Meaning with Round-Robin Tables

References

Index

Back Cover