LINGUIST List 13.2894

Fri Nov 8 2002

Books: Cognitive Science: Gregory Murphy

Editor for this issue: Tomoko Okuno <tomokolinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. dgw, The Big Book of Concepts: Gregory Murphy

Title: The Big Book of Concepts
Series Title: Bradford Books
Publication Year: 2002

Publisher: MIT Press 
 http://mitpress.mit.edu/		 
			
Author: Gregory L. Murphy
				
Hardback: ISBN: 0262134098, Pages: 560, Price: $45


Abstract:

Concepts embody our knowledge of the kinds of things there are in the
world. Tying our past experiences to our present interactions with the
environment, they enable us to recognize and understand new objects
and events. Concepts are also relevant to understanding domains such
as social situations, personality types, and even artistic styles. Yet
like other phenomenologically simple cognitive processes such as
walking or understanding speech, concept formation and use are
maddeningly complex.

Research since the 1970s and the decline of the "classical view" of
concepts have greatly illuminated the psychology of concepts. But
persistent theoretical disputes have sometimes obscured this
progress. The Big Book of Concepts goes beyond those disputes to
reveal the advances that have been made, focusing on the major
empirical discoveries. By reviewing and evaluating research on diverse
topics such as category learning, word meaning, conceptual development
in infants and children, and the basic level of categorization, the
book develops a much broader range of criteria than is usual for
evaluating theories of concepts.

Gregory L. Murphy is Professor of Psychology at New York University.

Lingfield(s): Cognitive Science
			 
Written In: English (Language Code: ENG)