Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T20:56:32.960Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Language and conceptual development: Words as essence placeholders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2003

Fei Xu
Fei Xu
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115 f.xu@neu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Perhaps in addition to language being a potential medium of domain-general thought, as suggested by Carruthers, language may also play another role in conceptual development: Words are “essence placeholders.” Evidence is presented from studies on categorization, object individuation, and inductive inference in infancy. The assumption that words are essence placeholders may be a mechanism by which infants acquire kind concepts.

Type
Brief Report
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 25 , Issue 6 , December 2002 , pp. 704 - 705
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)