Dahlberg's Concept Theory: Concepts And Semiotic Theory

Concepts and Semiotic Theory

Dahlberg (1974) formulated concept theory grounded on a triangle model consists of respective referent, characteristics, and its designation. Her theoretical framework benefits a handful researchers in the KO field, even though there is a limitation (Friedman and Thellefsen, 2011). Recently, she claims that the study of conceptual framework in KO remains to be discovered and understood, and continues to construct a better conceptual classification scheme based on four content-determinant types of relationships (Dahlberg, 2014, p.86). A possibility of achieving a better conceptual framework might rest on the understanding of Semiotic theory.

The semiotic theory has a logical foundation of understanding individual’s process of interpreting knowledge objects since it roots in the assumption that a meaning of each sign is produced by the interpretant that mediates between a sign and corresponding knowledge object. One of the three conceptual levels is the level of cognition which is in a relation to perception during the process of interpretation. In Peircian’s perspective, it is argued that “knowledge about a concept relates to previously acquired knowledge, and, therefore, concepts must be defined within a continuum, departing from one knowledge state to a more and

Although, there are many differences between the two theories due to their different background, but we shouldn 't ignore the important parallel of knowledge representation. In fact, Peirce’s semiotic theory has a remarkable insight in regards to the process of interpretation, as “semiotics provides an elaborate framework for defining the formal conditions for signs being signs, for signs being accurate representations, and for signs being communicative and related to enquiry” (Friedman and Thellefsen, 2011,