Computing with Cognitive States

Abstract: Basic experimental findings about human working memory can be described by an algebra built on high-dimensional binary states, representing information items, and two operations: multiplication for binding and addition for bundling. In contrast to common VSA algebras, bundling is not associative. Consequently bundling a sequence of items preserves their sequential ordering. The cognitive states representing a memorised list exhibit a primacy as well as a recency gradient. The typical concave-up and asymmetrically shaped serial position curve is derived as a linear combination of those gradients. Quantitative implications of the algebra are shown to agree well with empirical data from basic cognitive tasks including storage and retrieval of information in human working memory.