What do category-specific semantic deficits tell us about the representation of lexical concepts?
A reassessment of category-specific semantic deficits in light of their contribution to a theory of the representation of lexical concepts is proposed. Two theories are examined: one, held by the majority of researchers in the field, claims that concepts are represented by sets of features; another, in contrast, claims that concepts are atomic representations. An analysis of category-specific semantic deficits in terms of inferential relations (of the meaning-postulates type) between atomic concepts is elaborated. It is argued that this theory can better account for the pattern of performance exhibited by patients with semantic deficits.
de Almeida
R G
RG
Department of Linguistics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. roberto@ualberta.ca
D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D012660:Semantics; D014825:Vocabulary