Quantified statements are recalled as generics: Evidence from preschool children and adults
Open accessAbstract
Generics are sentences such as "ravens are black" and "tigers are striped", which express generalizations concerning kinds. Quantified statements such as "all tigers are striped" or "most ravens are black" also express generalizations, but unlike generics, they specify how many members of the kind have the property in question. Recently, some theorists have proposed that generics express cognitively fundamental/default generalizations, and that quantified statements in contrast express cognitively more sophisticated generalizations (Gelman, 2010; Leslie, 2008). If this hypothesis is correct, then quantified statements may be remembered as generics. This paper presents four studies with 136 preschool children and 118 adults, demonstrating that adults and preschoolers alike tend to recall quantified statements as generics, thus supporting the hypothesis that generics express cognitively default generalizations.
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Quantified statements are often later remembered as generic.
“with quantified statements often misremembered as generic (32).”
From Generic language in scientific communication (2019) · cites this paper as [32]
Generics appear to be a default mode of generalization.
“They appear to be a default mode of generalization”
From Generic language in scientific communication (2019) · cites this paper as [32]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Leslie, S.-J., & Gelman, S. A.
- Affiliations
- Princeton University (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Leslie, Sarah-Jane
- Venue
- Cognitive Psychology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-05
- Volume
- 64
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 186-214
- ISSN
- 0010-0285 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3267382
- OpenAlex
- W2146729151
- Cited by
- 172
- References
- 85
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 9.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Cognitive Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-36043, R56HD036043, R01HD036043)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Categorization, perception, and language
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
- Keywords
- generics, quantified statements, memory retrieval, cognitive development, preschool children, adults
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Concept Formation, Generalization, Psychological, Humans, Psychological Tests, Mental Recall, Semantics, Evidence-Based Medicine, Young Adult
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