Conceptual Integration Networks

Cognitive Science, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 133-187, April-June 1998

67 Pages Posted: 3 Nov 2008 Last revised: 21 Dec 2010

See all articles by Gilles Fauconnier

Gilles Fauconnier

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Department of Cognitive Science

Mark B. Turner

Case Western Reserve University - Department of Cognitive Science

Date Written: February 10, 2001

Abstract

This is an expanded version of Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner. 1998. "Conceptual Integration Networks." Cognitive Science 22:2 (April-June 1998), 133-187. Conceptual integration - "blending" - is a general cognitive operation on a par with analogy, recursion, mental modeling, conceptual categorization, and framing. It serves a variety of cognitive purposes. It is dynamic, supple, and active in the moment of thinking. It yields products that frequently become entrenched in conceptual structure and grammar, and it often performs new work on its previously entrenched products as inputs. Blending is easy to detect in spectacular cases but it is for the most part a routine, workaday process that escapes detection except on technical analysis. It is not reserved for special purposes, and is not costly.

In blending, structure from input mental spaces is projected to a separate, blended mental space. The projection is selective. Through completion and elaboration, the blend develops structure not provided by the inputs. Inferences, arguments, and ideas developed in the blend can have effect in cognition, leading us to modify the initial inputs and to change our view of the corresponding situations.

Blending operates according to a set of uniform structural and dynamic principles. It additionally observes a set of optimality principles.

Keywords: Conceptual Integration, Blending, Mental Space, Metaphor, Counterfactual, Analogy, Vital Relations, Compression

Suggested Citation

Fauconnier, Gilles and Turner, Mark B., Conceptual Integration Networks (February 10, 2001). Cognitive Science, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 133-187, April-June 1998, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1292966

Gilles Fauconnier

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Department of Cognitive Science ( email )

9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0515
United States

Mark B. Turner (Contact Author)

Case Western Reserve University - Department of Cognitive Science ( email )

10900 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106-7068
United States

HOME PAGE: http://markturner.org

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