?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=A+Note+on+the+Complexity+of+Boolean+Concepts&rft.creator=Vigo%2C+R.&rft.subject=Complexity+Theory&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Logic&rft.description=What+is+the+relationship+between+the+degree+of+learning+difficulty+of+a+Boolean+concept+(i.e.%2C+a+category+defined+by+logical+rules+expressed+in+terms+of+Boolean+operators)+and+the+complexity+of+its+logical+description%3F+Feldman+%5B(2000).+Minimization+of+Boolean+complexity+in+human+concept+learning.+Nature%2C+407(October)%2C+630%E2%80%93633%5D+investigated+this+question+experimentally+by+defining+the+complexity+of+a+Boolean+formula+(that+logically+describes+a+concept)+as+the+length+of+the+shortest+formula+logically+equivalent+to+it.+Using+this+measure+as+the+independent+variable+in+his+experiment%2C+he+concludes+that+in+general%2C+the+subjective+difficulty+of+learning+a+Boolean+concept+is+well+predicted+by+Boolean+complexity.+Moreover%2C+he+claims+that+one+of+the+landmark+results+and+benchmarks+in+the+human+concept+learning+literature%2C+the+Shepard%2C+Hovland%2C+and+Jenkins+learning+difficulty+ordering%2C+is+precisely+predicted+by+this+hypothesis.+However%2C+in+what+follows%2C+we+introduce+a+heuristic+procedure+for+reducing+Boolean+formulae%2C+based+in+part+on+the+well-established+minimization+technique+from+Boolean+algebra+known+as+the+Quine%E2%80%93McCluskey+(QM)+method%2C+which+when+applied+to+the+SHJ+Boolean+concept+types+reveals+that+some+of+their+complexity+values+are+notably+different+from+the+approximate+values+obtained+by+Feldman.+Furthermore%2C+using+the+complexity+values+for+these+simpler+expressions+fails+to+predict+the+correct+empirical+difficulty+ordering+of+the+SHJ+concept+types.+Motivated+by+these+findings%2C+this+note+includes+a+brief+tutorial+on+the+QM+method+and+concludes+with+a+brief+discussion+on+some+of+the+challenges+facing+the+complexity+hypothesis.&rft.publisher=Elsevier+Inc.&rft.date=2006-10-05&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.identifier=++Vigo%2C+R.++(2006)+A+Note+on+the+Complexity+of+Boolean+Concepts.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F5751%2F