Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Why stereotypes don't even make good defaults.

Andrew C Connolly1, Jerry A Fodor, Lila R Gleitman

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. andrew73psych.upenn.edu

Cognition
|April 18, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Where word and world meet: Language and vision share an abstract representation of symmetry.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2022
Same author

Recollecting What We Once Knew: My Life in Psycholinguistics.

Annual review of psychology·2021
Same author

The violin case.

Cognition·2021
Same author

Using the force: STEM knowledge and experience construct shared neural representations of engineering concepts.

NPJ science of learning·2020
Same author

Mental models use common neural spatial structure for spatial and abstract content.

Communications biology·2020
Same author

Decoding individual differences in STEM learning from functional MRI data.

Nature communications·2019
Same journal

Corrigendum to 'Consonant, vowel, and tone cues in early wordform recognition: Evidence from Cantonese-learning infants' [Cognition 275 (2026) 106624].

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Identifying distinct sources of whole number interference in children's decimal comparison: the role of numerical magnitude and inhibitory control.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Evidence for abstract spatial concept learning in young animals.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Blurred lines or clear boundaries? Synchrony and social dominance shape domain-specific self-other processing.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Knowability predicts curiosity and learning.

Cognition·2026
Same journal

Throwing good effort after bad: Evidence for a sunk-cost effect in cognitive effort-based decision-making.

Cognition·2026
See all related articles

Concepts are not stereotypes. Complex concepts do not automatically inherit stereotypical features from their constituent parts, challenging prototype theories of categorization and suggesting a pragmatic approach to conceptual combination.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Psychology
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • Many theories equate concepts with stereotypes or stereotypical properties.
  • This approach struggles to explain concept compositionality.
  • Prior research highlights limitations in prototype-based concept theories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether complex concepts inherit stereotypes from their constituents.
  • To test the hypothesis that stereotypical features are systematically discounted during conceptual combination.
  • To propose an alternative model for conceptual combination.

Main Methods:

  • An experiment was conducted presenting participants with propositions involving complex concepts.
  • Participants judged the likelihood of propositions like 'Baby ducks have webbed feet' versus 'Ducks have webbed feet'.

Related Experiment Videos

  • The study manipulated noun phrase modifiers to observe effects on stereotype inheritance.

    • Main Results:

    • Participants did not default to assuming complex concepts inherit stereotypes.
    • Judgments of complex concepts were less likely to align with the head noun's stereotype.
    • Stereotypical features were systematically discounted when head nouns combined with modifiers.

    Conclusions:

    • Conceptual combination does not operate by default inheritance of stereotypes.
    • A model where concepts remain inert and rely on pragmatic inferences is proposed.
    • This challenges existing prototype theories and offers a new perspective on concept formation.