Categorization Inside And Outside The Laboratory: Essays In Honor Of Douglas L. Medin (DECADE OF BEHAVIOR)

Categorization Inside and Outside the Laboratory: Essays in Honor of Douglas L. Medin presents the state of knowledge on how people partition the world into categories. This volume in APA's Decade of Behavior series raises key questions about the nature and universality of naturally occurring concepts in human thinking. Researchers in this area have tended to assume that there are universal aspects of categorization and that crosscultural differences are relatively minor. However, the work showcased in this book suggests that categories can differ significantly across cultures with respect to fundamental human concepts such as space, time, and objecthood. Traditionally, these categories have been studied using artificial stimuli in the laboratory, with the goal of developing real world applications. However, the contributors to this volume also study naturally occurring concepts in a variety of cultures and domains, and in this way are able to inform basic laboratory research in a productive way. This building of bridges across communities that do not frequently interact has been inspired by the pioneering work of cognitive psychologist Douglas L. Medin, to whom this book is dedicated.