CONCEPT STRUCTURE AND CATEGORY BOUNDARIES

描述(申请人摘要)：知道一张表是什么意思， 或者是椅子，或者是锤子？尽管备受关注，但对此没有明确的答案 到目前为止，关于精神表征的基本问题已经出现。 在理解概念和分类的性质方面取得的进展可能 要求1)区分两种不同的分类行为，以及 2)区分不同的流程 分类决策。这些区别可以在统一的 指定概念、类别、Word之间关系的框架 有意义，有参照。 研究人员提出了两组研究，它们将提供一个经验性的 为他们的框架奠定了基础。这些研究将检查#年的分类 各种实验背景。第一个集合直接从 在作为承认行为的分类和作为承认行为的分类之间作出区分 归类为一种交流行为。这些研究考察了两者之间的关系 在识别之间，调查人员认为这是基于相似性 一个对象与要素空间中的其他对象之间的关系，以及 应用于对象。第二组研究调查了 使名称应用于对象的方式变得复杂。这些研究 提供有关相似性程度的更多信息 解释了观察到的命名现象，并确定了其他机制 这可能是必要的。对正式模型的测试，体现了调查人员的 关于相似性在产生命名现象中的作用的假设如下 与两套研究中的实验工作相结合。终极的 建议项目的目标是提供经验和理论上的 为一套全面的分类理论奠定了基础。

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Abstract): What does it mean to know what a table, or a chair, or a hammer is? Despite much attention, no clear answer to this fundamental question about mental representation has thus far emerged. Progress in understanding the nature of concepts and categorization may require 1) distinguishing between two different acts of categorization, and 2) distinguishing among different processes that contribute to categorization decisions. These distinctions can be drawn within a unifying framework that specifies the relationships among concepts, categories, word sense, and reference. The investigators propose two sets of studies that will provide an empirical foundation for their framework. The studies will examine classification in a variety of experimental contexts. The first set derives directly from the distinction to be drawn between categorizing as an act of recognition and categorizing as a communicative act. These studies examine the relation between recognition, which the investigators view as based on the similarity of an object to other objects in feature space, and the names that are applied to objects. The second set of studies investigates mechanisms that produce complexity in how names are applied to objects. These studies provide additional information about the extent to which similarity can account for observed phenomena of naming, and they identify other mechanisms that may be required. Tests of a formal model embodying the investigators' assumptions about the role of similarity in producing naming phenomena are integrated with the experimental work in both sets of studies. The ultimate goal of the proposed project is to provide the empirical and theoretical foundation for a comprehensive theory of categorization.