Are there kinds of concepts?
Past research on concepts has focused almost exclusively on noun-object concepts. This paper discusses recent research demonstrating that useful distinctions may be made among kinds of concepts, including both object and nonobject concepts. We discuss three types of criteria, based on structure, process, and content, that may be used to distinguish among kinds of concepts. The paper then reviews a number of possible candidates for kinds based on the discussed criteria.
Medin
D L
DL
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA. medin@nwu.edu
Lynch
E B
EB
Solomon
K O
KO
D003071:Cognition; D003210:Concept Formation; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D012938:Social Perception