Concepts, Propositions, and Schemata: What are the Cognitive Units?

Cognitive units are defined within a production system framework. They are sets of elements that are stored in long-term memory in a single encoding act and which are retrieved from long-term memory in a single retrieval. By this definition, concepts in a semantic network are generally considered cognitive units. Various considerations are enumerated for deciding whether propositions and schemata are to be considered cognitive units. These criteria include all-or-none recall, associative priming, and heightened recall. The current state of evidence favors the conclusion that propositions and schemata also be considered cognitive units. It is argued that the necessary and sufficient condition for the formation of cognitive units is that elements in working memory be put in correspondences with elements in long-term memory. A partial matching interpretation of this correspondence process is discussed. Author