In this brief essay I consider what the basic cognitive operations might be that make conceptual integration (Fauconnier and Turner 1998) possible. These operations have been described in conceptual terms (e.g., composition, completion, elaboration) but conceptual integration researchers certainly have in mind that they should have their basis in fundamental aspects of cognition. This essay explores such assumptions somewhat more explicitly; in particular, I consider the familiar cognitive science topics of binding, inhibition, and spreading activation, and their possible roles in creating the variety of conceptual products that have been treated in the conceptual integration (or blending) literature. (Joseph Grady)