Recent advances in cognitive science promise new techniques supported by experimental evidence for the study of mental representation. Three cognitivist approaches, from the social through the biological sciences, are here sampled for their potential aid in the analyses of the arts. A brief review of work from the Paris Circle, American cognitive linguists, and from neural network theorists supports the existence of some form of innate structure plus a need for experiential contact with such life patterns as might be effectively supplied by the arts. [J.B.]