1. Basic-level kinds and object persistence.
- Author
-
Rhemtulla, Mijke and Hall, D. Geoffrey
- Subjects
- *
GENERATIVE grammar , *OBJECT Relations Technique , *OBJECT-teaching , *PROJECT method in teaching , *VISUAL education , *LEGAL judgments ,PERSISTENCE - Abstract
In three experiments, we explored the basis of adults' judgments of individual object persistence through transformation. Participants watched scenarios in which an object underwent a transformation into an object belonging to the same or a different basic-level kind. Participants were queried about the object's persistence through the transformation as an individual (indexed by its proper name) and as a member of the original kind (indexed by its basic-level count noun in Experiments 1 and 2, or by its superordinate-level noun in Experiment 3). In all experiments, participants rated objects that were altered in a way that maintained basic-level kind to be less likely to retain their proper name than those that were altered in a way that changed basic-level kind. These findings suggest that shared basic-level kind membership serves as a dimension of similarity over which objects' unique individual identities are highlighted. We discuss the implications of the results for existing theoretical accounts of adults' judgments of individual object persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009
- Full Text
- View/download PDF