Contextualizing Concepts

The mathematics of quantum mechanics was developed to cope with problems arising in the description of (1) contextual interactions, and (2) the generation of new states with new properties when particles become entangled. Similar problems arise with concepts. This paper summarizes the rationale for and preliminary results of using a generalization of standard quantum mechanics based on the lattice formalism to describe the contextual manner in which concepts are evoked, used, and combined to generate meaning. Concepts are viewed not as fixed representations but dynamically `re-constructed' entities generated on the fly through interaction between cognitive state and situation or context