But thirdness requires the learner's experience with and interpretation of the sign. When the learner apprehends the picture of a sewing machine to reveal its function, for example, a semiotic relation, or interpretant, is established. To begin with, signs can bear different relations to their objects. They can be indexical, iconic, or symbolic. An indexical sign is one established by cause and effect, as in the appearance of a zig-zag stitch on a garment being caused by a particular setting on the sewing machine.
Iconic signs are images, or likenesses, of their objects.
Symbols are related to their objects by habit or convention. Language and mathematics are symbolic systems commonly used by humans. The dynamic object, however, refers to what is implied by the immediate object. In this case, the dynamic object would include all the various facets surrounding the complex issue of when the majority is or isn't right. Dynamic interpretants refer to the range of reactions the learner may have to the immediate object.