McKNIGHT, Cliff: Hypertext in Context

Chapter 5 - Creating Hypertext

 
Chapter 5 Contents > Hypertext Network or 'Web of Facts' SITEMAP

Knowledge Structures and Theories of Memory ]

Associationism ]

Figure 11 ]

[   Figure 12 ]

    Knowledge Structures and Theories of Memory

    Advocates of hypertext suggest that the ideas relevant to a subject can be represented best by a simple associative network, or web, with multiple inter-relationships specified. Electronic storage and manipulation makes it feasible to have a very large amount of material included and the hypertext format 'frees' the content from being structured with a specific ordering. According to Beeman et al. (1987),


    "a hypertext should function like an adventure game, permitting you to wander through a world of facts and ideas, jumping from one to another or linking them when you wish to do so."


This vision transfers the responsibility for structuring the information away from the author and vests it jointly, if not equally, with the reader.

 

    A more sophisticated attempt at representing human memory is shown in Figure 12 where, although concepts are still linked by association, the linkages comprise specific types. The graphic representation for even this simple factual episode is reasonably complex and it seems doubtful whether the approach is suitable for representing anything more involved. The Thoth-II system (Collier, 1987) attempts to do this by employing conceptual objects and typed relations, but the author accepts that there are substantial disadvantages to the approach, particularly with regard to user navigation. It is unclear at present how this structuring can be presented to the user in a way that is meaningful, let alone helpful.



    Figure 12: Semantic network for a simple historical episode. [After Rumelhart, Lindsay and Norman, 1972]

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    Our theoretical understanding has come a long way from the simple notions of the Associationists, but even the relatively sophisticated contemporary models of semantic memory and conceptual understanding are acknowledged to be crude representations. The claim that a simple, non-hierarchical associative net, or web, is an ideal or natural model for hypertext because it mimics human memory must be seen as inadequate.


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Introduction ]  [ Conversion of Text to Hypertext ] [ Creation of Original Hypertext ] [ Characteristics of Extended Prose Arguments ]  HYPERTEXT NETWORK OR 'WEB OF FACTS'  [ Fallacy of Simple Networks as 'Ideal' Representations of Knowledge ] [ From Chaos to Order, From Order to Understanding ] [ Conclusion ] [References ] [Glossary ]