The phenomenological road to Cognitive Semiotics

[Abstract] Like M. Jordan, who discovered in his old age that he had always been talking prose, I realized a few years ago that I have been doing cognitive semiotics my whole life. In my 1978 dissertation I argued for an «integral linguistics», meaning both that linguistic theory should be conceived within a wider semiotic framework, and that we should abandon the «autonomy postulate», according to which theoretical models must be independent of empirical findings, which dominated both linguistics and semiotics at the time. When you build theory with the help of a phenomenological method, there is a much shorter distance between theory and experience, because phenomenology is empirical attention to consciousness. Much later I became acquainted with Paul Bouissac’s description of semiotics as «meta-analysis», which «consists in reading through a large number of specialised scientific publications/…/ in one or several domains of inquiry, and of relating the partial results within a more encompassing model». Cognitive science is for the most part also a kind of meta-analysis. Nevertheless, semiotics has interest in adopting the practice of cognitive science that consists in submitting its own questions to empirical study. The essential difference between cognitive science and semiotics, however, resides elsewhere, in the point of view taken in the construction of the encompassing model. In semiotics, the point of view that determines the construction of the model is meaning in the widest sense of the term. In cognitive science it is cognition, but in a sense itself redefined by the approach, first, during the reign of the computer metaphor, as everything in the mind which may be simulated on a computer, and then, with the later brain model, as everything which can be detected as occurring in the brain. Semiotics, on the other hand, has generated its own reductionist models from within, most notoriously those of Saussure and Peirce. To avoid reductionism, it will be argued, Husserlean phenomenology, rather than the Peircean brand, is a more suitable method to employ in the study of meanin

La fotografia. entre el dibujo y la virtualidad

The task of pictorial semiotics is not only to determine the specificity of the picture as a sign, but also to describe the peculiar nature of different kinds of pictures, such as the drawing, the photograph, and the computer image. The presenttext first describes the development of the pictorial signs throughout the history of humanity, and then considers the properties which characterise these signs as far as their possibility of repetition and the limits to reality are concerned. The fourth part ofthe essay studies indexical and iconic sign character of photography and emphasise the global character of its rules of reproduction as opposed to those of hand-made pictures. In the last part, we investigate the ways in which the definition of photography has changed as a consequence ofthe emergence ofsynthetic pictures as well as virtual reality.La tarea de la semiotica de la imagen no consiste solamente en determinar la especificidad de la imagen como signo, sino tambien en describir las particularidades de diferentes imagenes, como son, por ejemplo, el dibujo, la fotografia y la imagen de computadora. El presente texto describe, primero, el desarrollo del signo del tipo de la imagen en la historia de la humanidad y considera, despues, las particularidades de esos signos en cuanto a su posible reproduccion y su limite con la realidad. La cuarta parte del ensayo estudia la fotografia en su capacidad de signo indexical e iconico, e insiste sobre el caracter global de las reglas de reproduccion que opone ese tipo de imagen al dibujo. En la ultima parte, estudiamos el cambio en la definicion de la fotografia que ha resultado de la emergencia de la imagen sintetica y de la realidad virtual

Use of Hydrological Models to Predict Risk for Rutting in Logging Operations

Using hydrological models with a high temporal resolution to predict risk for rutting may be a possible method to improve planning of forwarder trails or to schedule logging operations in sites with low bearing capacity to periods when soil moisture content is at a minimum. We have studied whether descriptions of rut variations, collected in 27 logging sites, can be improved by using hydrological data, modeled by Swedish HYdrological Prediction for Environment (S-HYPE). Other explanatory variables, such as field-surveyed data and spatial data, were also used to describe rut variations within and across logging sites. The results indicated that inclusion of S-HYPE data led to only marginal improvement in explaining the observed variations of the ruts in terms of both "rut depths" within the logging sites and "proportion of forwarder trails with ruts" across the logging sites. However, application of S-HYPE data for adapting depth-to-water (DTW) maps to temporal changes of soil moisture content may be a way to develop more dynamic soil moisture maps for forestry applications

Rhetorical Transformations in Multimodal Advertising Texts: From General to Local Degree Zero

The use of rhetoric in advertising research has been steadily gaining momentum since the 1980’s. Coupled with an increased interest in multimodality and the multiple interactions among verbal, pictorial and auditory registers, as structural components of an ad filmic text, the hermeneutic tools furnished by traditional rhetoric have been expanded and elaborated. This paper addresses the fundamental question of how ad filmic texts assume signification from a multimodal rhetorical point of view, by engaging in a fruitful dialogue with various research streams within the wider semiotic discipline and consumer research. By critically addressing the context of analysis of a multimodal ad text in the course of the argumentation deployed by different approaches, such as Social Semiotics (Kress/Leeuwen 2001), Film Semiotics (i.e. Metz 1982, Carroll 1980, Branigan 1982), Visual Semiotics (i.e. Sonesson 2008; 2010, Eco 1972;1976;1986, Groupe " 1992), Consumer Research (i.e. Mick/McQuarrie 1999; 2004, Philips 2003, Scott 1994), the relative merits of a structuralist approach that prioritizes the distinction between local and general degree zero, as put forward by Groupe " (1992), are highlighted. Furthermore, the modes whereby rhetorical transformations are enacted are outlined, with view to deepening the conceptual tackling of degree zero of signification, while addressing its applicability to branding discourse and multimodal ad texts

From sign to action: Studies in chimpanzee pictorial competence

Many studies of children and apes realized in psychology address issues that are highly relevant to semiotics, but they often do so indirectly, or they use a terminology that is confusing and/or too vague from a semiotical point of view. The studies reported here, however, follow the paradigm of these psychological studies, but they are couched in an explicit semiotical terminology. They involve three classical semiotical issues: the nature of the sign, as opposed to other meanings; degrees and/or types of iconicity and their relevance for understanding; and the importance of temporal focus in different kinds of semiotical resources. The studies all involve one subject, the chimpanzee Alex, and all issues were studied looking at the actions accomplished by the subject after being exposed to different semiotic resources.</p

Oral Administration of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v Reduces Cortisol Levels in Human Saliva during Examination Induced Stress : A Randomized, Double-Blind Controlled Trial

Objective. To clarify the effect of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v on the salivary cortisol and salivary IgA levels in young adults under examination stress. Design. Forty-one students with an upcoming academic exam were included in a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The probiotic bacteria or the placebo product was administered in capsules once a day during 14 days. Saliva was collected and a perceived stress test was filled out at each sampling occasion. Saliva was collected for cortisol analysis by Electrochemiluminescence Immunoassay (ECLI) and salivary IgA was analysed by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Abundance of lactobacilli was evaluated by cultivation of saliva on selective medium and identification of L. plantarum 299v was done on randomly selected colonies by a random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) typing. Results. A significant difference in cortisol levels was found between the treatment group and the placebo group (P < 0.05), together with a significant increase in levels of lactobacilli in the treatment group compared with the placebo group (P < 0.001). No significant changes were found for salivary IgA. Conclusion. A probiotic bacterium with ability to reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) prohibited increased levels of the stress marker cortisol during the examination period. The registration number of the study is NCT02974894, and the study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov