Abstract
We propose that concepts exist along a continuum of abstraction, from highly concrete to highly abstract, and we explore a critical kind of abstract category: relational abstractions. We argue that these relational categories emerge gradually from concrete concepts through a process of progressive analogical abstraction that renders their common structure more salient. This account is supported by recent findings in historical linguistics, language acquisition and neuroscience. We suggest that analogical abstraction provides a major route for the development of abstractions in language and cognition.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1298-1307 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Language, Cognition and Neuroscience |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 26 2019 |
Funding
This research was supported in part by a grant from the Office of Naval Research [award number N00014-16-1-2613], as well as by the National Science Foundation-Funded Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center [grant number SBE-1041707], to the first author.
Keywords
- Analogical abstraction
- career of metaphor
- concept development
- progressive alignment
- relational categories
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Language and Linguistics
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Linguistics and Language
- Cognitive Neuroscience