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Typicality, graded membership, and vagueness
1Psychology Department, City University, London.
Cognitive Science
|June 4, 2011
Summary
Prototype theory explains typicality and membership in vague concepts. A new Threshold Model addresses logical issues, linking graded membership to social construction via language use.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
- Philosophy of Language
Background:
- Vagueness in language presents theoretical challenges for conceptual representation.
- Prototype theory offers a framework for understanding typicality and membership in vague categories.
Purpose of the Study:
- To argue that prototype theory adequately explains typicality and graded membership in vague concepts.
- To counter arguments suggesting distinct representations for membership and typicality.
- To propose a model addressing logical paradoxes in vague categorization.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of theoretical problems in conceptual categorization.
- Examination of arguments from Osherson and Smith (1997) and Kamp and Partee (1995).
- Development of the Threshold Model, a version of prototype theory.
Main Results:
- Prototype theory's core intuitions sufficiently account for typicality and psychological intuitions of graded membership.
- The Threshold Model counters arguments for separate representations of membership and typicality.
- Three solutions are proposed for logical contradictions and tautologies in vague categorizations.
Conclusions:
- Graded membership in vague categories is explained by prototype theory.
- The Threshold Model provides a unified account of typicality and membership.
- Conceptual boundaries are socially constructed and maintained through language use.
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