1. A pattern recognition system comprising a memory configured to maintain a knowledge element array comprising a plurality of knowledge elements; and logic configured to: partition the knowledge element array into one or more knowledge maps, each knowledge map having an associated partition identifier and comprising one or more of the 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 particular partition identifier; receive a partition configuration corresponding to the particular partition identifier and identifying a comparison technique for comparing the input vector and the data vectors of the one or more knowledge elements of a particular one of the one or more knowledge maps associated with the particular partition identifier; and process the input vector by applying the input vector to the particular knowledge map for a recognition operation or a learning operation using the comparison technique.