1. An apparatus, comprising a memory operative to maintain a knowledge element array comprising a plurality of knowledge elements; and control logic operative to partition the knowledge element array into one or more knowledge maps, wherein each knowledge map is associated with a partition identifier, and wherein each knowledge map comprises one or more knowledge elements, each knowledge element comprising one or more operands collectively defining a data vector and a category identifier; receive an input vector and a partition identifier; and apply the input vector to the knowledge map corresponding to the partition identifier for recognition or learning operations, wherein the control logic is further operative to receive a partition configuration for a selected partition, wherein the partition configuration comprises one or more attributes defining a distance calculation algorithm for computing distances between input vectors to the knowledge elements associated with a selected partition.