Speaker
Description
Abstract concepts (e.g., fantasy, republic), although not dichotomously opposed to concrete concepts (e.g., hammer, cherry), differ from them in the weight of many semantic dimensions – for abstract concepts, the linguistic, inner, and social experience weigh more than the sensorimotor one. Recent literature has highlighted the need to identify various subkinds of abstract concepts, from emotions to numbers, each characterized by multiple but different dimensions having different weights. In the talk, I will focus on the role of the social dimension. In light of recent evidence obtained through ratings and interactive behavioral tasks, I will argue that abstract concepts evoke uncertainty and the tendency to rely on others to learn, negotiate, or outsource knowledge. I propose that this tendency may be more or less pronounced depending on the kind of concept. I will also highlight the importance of interactive tasks, rich in multimodal information, to capture fine-grained differences between concept kinds characterized by different dimensions.
| If you're submitting a symposium talk, what's the symposium title? | Semantic Memory: A Multidimensional System Under Control |
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