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Related Experiment Video

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A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments

A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments

Published on: March 1, 2022

Concept modeling, essential properties, and similarity spaces.

Peter Gärdenfors¹

¹Lund University Cognitive Science, Kunghuset, S-222 22 Lund, Sweden Peter.Gardenfors@lucs.lu.se http://www.lucs.lu.se.

The Behavioral and Brain Sciences

|February 5, 2008

Summary

This study explores how psychological essentialism shapes our concepts. It proposes a broader similarity space model to better explain concept formation and handling of new properties.

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Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning

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Published on: November 2, 2012

Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Psychology
Philosophy of Mind

Background:

Bloom's argument posits that psychological essentialism is fundamental to concept formation.
Existing models based on perceptual similarity spaces fail to adequately explain concept generalization and essentialist intuitions.

Purpose of the Study:

To challenge the limitations of perceptual similarity spaces in explaining concept structure.
To propose an alternative framework using a broader notion of similarity space.

Main Methods:

Theoretical analysis of existing concept theories.
Development of a broader similarity space model.

Main Results:

The proposed broader similarity space can account for how humans handle novel properties.
This model better aligns with intuitive notions of essences compared to perceptual similarity spaces.

Conclusions:

A revised understanding of similarity spaces offers a more robust explanation for concept formation.
Psychological essentialism's role in conceptualization can be effectively modeled using expanded similarity metrics.