Familiarity and Plausibility in Conceptual Combination: Reply to Gagné and Spalding (2006)

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Edward J. Wisniewski, Associate Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: Wisniewski and Murphy (2005) suggested that the apparent effects of relation frequency in Gagné and Shoben's (1997) conceptual combination experiments could be explained by differences between the familiarity and plausibility of their stimuli (noun-noun phrases). However, Gagné and Spalding (2006) argued that our measures of plausibility and frequency are both sensitive to relation frequency. They also suggested that the stimuli were mostly novel such that differences in familiarity could not explain the Gagné and Shoben findings. We focus on the theoretical rationale for the plausibility and familiarity variables, arguing that the original interpretation of our findings is correct.

Additional Information

Publication
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32(6): 1431–1442
Language: English
Date: 2006
Keywords
concepts, conceptual combination, noun compounds, language comprehension

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