Save

Naming the Animals that Come to Mind: Effects of Culture and Experience on Category Fluency

In: Journal of Cognition and Culture
Authors:
Nathan Winkler-Rhoades Department of Psychology, William James Hall, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland Street Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Search for other papers by Nathan Winkler-Rhoades in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Douglas Medin Department of Psychology, Swift Hall 102, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA

Search for other papers by Douglas Medin in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Sandra Waxman Department of Psychology, Swift Hall 102, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA

Search for other papers by Sandra Waxman in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Jennie Woodring Department of Psychology, Swift Hall 102, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA;, Email: j-woodring@northwestern.edu

Search for other papers by Jennie Woodring in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
, and
Norbert Ross Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, 124 Garland Hall, Nashville, TN 37235, USA

Search for other papers by Norbert Ross in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
Online Publication Date:
01 Jan 2010
Download Citation Get Permissions

Access options

Get access to the full article by using one of the access options below.

Institutional Login

Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials

Login via Institution

Purchase

Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

$40.00
Add to Cart

Other access options

Rent on DeepDyve
Redeem Access Token

Abstract

This article considers the semantic structure of the animal category from a cross-cultural developmental perspective. Children and adults from three North American communities (urban majority culture, rural majority culture and rural Native American) were prompted to generate animal names, and the resulting lists were analyzed for their underlying dimensionality and for the typicality or salience of specific animal names. The semantic structure of the animal category appeared to be consistent across cultural groups, but the relative salience of animal kinds varied as a function of culture and first-hand experience with the natural world. These results provide evidence of a shared representation of animals across disparate cultures but also indicate a role for culture in shaping animal concepts.

Title:
Naming the Animals that Come to Mind: Effects of Culture and Experience on Category Fluency
Article Type:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/156853710X497248
Language:
English
Pages:
205–220
Keywords:
FOLKBIOLOGY; NATIVE AMERICAN; CROSS-CULTURE; NAME GENERATION; CATEGORIZATION; DEVELOPMENT
In:
Journal of Cognition and Culture
In:
Volume 10: Issue 1-2
Publisher:
Brill
E-ISSN:
1568-5373
Print ISSN:
1567-7095
Subjects:
Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy, Aesthetics & Cultural Theory

Content Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 807 155 13
Full Text Views 218 11 0
PDF Views & Downloads 132 22 0