Semantics and metaphysics in informatics: toward an ontology of tasks

Abstract

This article clarifies three principles that should guide the development of any cognitive ontology. First, that an adequate cognitive ontology depends essentially on an adequate task ontology; second, that the goal of developing a cognitive ontology is independent of the goal of finding neural implementations of the processes referred to in the ontology; and third, that cognitive ontologies are neutral regarding the metaphysical relationship between cognitive and neural processes.

Keywords: Cognitive control; Cognitive neuroscience; Cognitive ontology; Cognitive phenomics; Cognitive tasks; Informatics; Response selection; Semantics.