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Cited by 101Categorization, perception, and languageSyntax, Semantics, Linguistic VariationLanguage Development and Disorders

The language of generalization

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Tessler, Michael Henry, Goodman, Noah D.·2019·Psychological Review
DOI 10.1037/rev0000142
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Abstract

Language provides simple ways of communicating generalizable knowledge to each other (e.g., "Birds fly," "John hikes," and "Fire makes smoke"). Though found in every language and emerging early in development, the language of generalization is philosophically puzzling and has resisted precise formalization. Here, we propose the first formal account of generalizations conveyed with language that makes quantitative predictions about human understanding. The basic idea is that the language of generalization expresses that an event or a property occurs relatively often, where what counts as relatively often depends upon one's prior expectations. We formalize this simple idea in a probabilistic model of language understanding, which we test in 3 diverse case studies: generalizations about categories (generic language), events (habitual language), and causes (causal language). We find that the model explains the gradience in human endorsements that has perplexed previous attempts to formalize this swath of linguistic expressions. This work opens the door to understanding precisely how abstract knowledge is learned from language. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

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  • Generics convey varying levels of a property's prevalence, allowing for many exceptions.

    “Generics also convey varying levels of a property’s prevalence: While “ravens are black” means all ravens are black, “mosquitos carry malaria” is true even though less than 10% of all mosquitos carry malaria, indicating that generics can allow for many exceptions [34].”

    From Hasty generalizations and generics in medical research: A systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [34]

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Research works printed but not linked: 13

  1. Behrens, L. (2005). Genericity from a cross-linguistic perspective. Linguistics , 43 (2), 275-344.
  2. Carlson, G. N. (1977). Reference to kinds in english (PhD thesis). University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
  3. Carlson, G. N. (1995). Truth conditions of generic sentences: Two contrasting views. In G. N. Carlson & F. J. Pelletier (Eds.), The generic book (pp. 224-38). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  4. Carlson, G. N., & Pelletier, F. J. (1995). The generic book. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.
  5. Cheng, P. W. (1997). From Covariation to Causation: A Causal Power Theory. Psychological Review , 104 (2), 367-405. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/1997-03612-007.pdf Cheng, P. W., & Novick, L. R. (1992). Covariation in Natural Causal Induction. Psychological Review , 99 (2), 365-382. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/1992-26096-001.pdf Cimpian, A., Arce, H.-M. C., Dweck, C. S., & Markman, E. M. (2007). Subtle Linguistic Cues Affect Children's Motivation. Psychological Science , 18 (4), 314-316.
  6. Clark, H. H. (1996). Using language . Cambridge University Press.
  7. Dahl, Ö. (1975). On generics. In E. Keenan (Ed.), Formal semantics of natural language (pp. 99-111). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  8. Degen, J., & Goodman, N. D. (2014). Lost your marbles? The puzzle of dependent measures in experimental pragmatics. In Proceedings of the thirty-sixth annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society .
  9. Franke, M. (2014). Typical use of quantifiers: A probabilistic speaker model. In Proceedings of the 36th annual meeting of the cogntiive science society (pp. 1-6). Retrieved from http://staff.science.uva.nl/{~}mfranke/Papers/Franke{\_}2014{\_}Typical use of quantifiers A probabilistic speaker model.pdf
  10. Gelman, S. A. (2003). Essential child: Origins of essentialntialism in everyday thought. Oxford University Press.
  11. Gelman, S. A. (2004). Learning words for kinds: Generic noun phrases in acquisition. In Weaving a lexicon (pp. 445-484). MIT Press.
  12. Gelman, S. A. (2009). Learning from others: Children's construction of concepts. Annual Review of Psychology , 60 , 115-140. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093659.LEARNING https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093659.LEARNING · DOI
  13. Gelman, S. A., Goetz, P. J., Sarnecka, B. W., & Flukes, J. (2008). Generic Language in Parent-Child Conversations. Language Learning and Development , 4 (1), 1-31.

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Authors
Tessler, M. H., & Goodman, N. D.
Affiliations
Stanford University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Psychological Review
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2019-04
Volume
126
Issue
3
Pages
395-436
ISSN
  • 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1471
DOI
10.1037/rev0000142
OpenAlex
W2806387104
Cited by
101
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1
FWCI
13.70
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Psychological Review (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (DGE-114747)
  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (FA8750-14-2-0009)
  • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
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
generalization, generic language, causal language, prior expectations
MeSH terms
Adult, Generalization, Psychological, Humans, Language, Models, Psychological

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