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Context-independent and context-dependent information in concepts (1982)
| Venue: | Memory & Cognition |
| Citations: | 142 - 11 self |
BibTeX
@ARTICLE{Barsalou82context-independentand,
author = {Lawrence W. Barsalou},
title = {Context-independent and context-dependent information in concepts},
journal = {Memory & Cognition},
year = {1982},
pages = {2--93}
}
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Abstract
It is proposed that concepts contain two types of properties. Context-independent properties are activated by the word for a concept on all occasions. The activation of these properties is unaffected by contextual relevance. Context-dependent properties are not activated by the respective word independent of context. Rather, these properties are activated only by relevant contexts in which the word appears. Context-independent properties form the core meanings of words, whereas context-dependent properties are a source of semantic encoding variability. This proposal lies between two opposing theories of meaning, one that argues all properties of a concept are active on all occasions and another that argues the active properties are completely determined by context. The existence of context-independent and context-dependent properties is demonstrated in two experimental settings: the property-verification task and judgments of similarity. The relevance of these property types to cross-classification, problem solving, meta-phor and sentence comprehension, and the semantic-episodic distinction is discussed. Some properties in a concept seem to come to mind on all occasions. The word "skunk " usually makes people think of the property "unpleasant smell, " and
Keyphrases
context-dependent property context-dependent information context-independent property contextual relevance problem solving respective word core meaning property type property-verification task concept seem word skunk relevant context active property semantic-episodic distinction property unpleasant smell sentence comprehension experimental setting
