SIRN – Synergetic Inter-Representation Networks

Abstract

SIRN (synergetic inter-representation networks) was originally developed by Haken and myself as an approach to cognition and cognitive mapping that integrates two notions: IRN (inter-representation network) and synergetics. We have elaborated SIRN is two steps. In the first step we have elaborated a general SIRN theory and model; in the second step we have derived from the general model three submodels that refer to the way the interacting network of internal and external representations is related to the cognition and (spatial) behavior of, firstly, a single person (the intra-personal submodel), secondly, several persons acting sequentially (the inter-personal submodel) and finally, many persons acting simultaneously (the interpersonal with a common reservoir submodel). As we shall see below in some detail, the canonical case study for the latter submodel is the city game with the implication that SIRN is, in fact, a cognitive theory of urban dynamics.