Deference and essentialism in the categorization of chemical kinds

Psychological essentialism has been subject to much debate. Yet a key implication – that people should defer to experts in categorizing natural kinds – has not been widely examined. Three experiments examine deference in the categorization of chemical kinds. The first establishes borderline cases used in the second and third. These latter show limited deference to experts, and some deference to non-experts. These data are consistent with a perspectival framework for concepts in which categorization is sometimes based on micro-structural properties and sometimes on appearance and function

Concepts

About the book: Cognitive processes enable us to experience the world around us: to recognise familiar faces, to communicate to one another through speech and writing, to feel emotion as we recall memories from the past. Cognitive Psychology provides a dynamic and exciting insight into this illuminating subject, leading us through such topics as attention, memory, judgement and decision making, and introducing us to the latest computational and imaging techniques through which our understanding of these topics is being continually enhanced. With state-of-the-art introductions from internationally recognised experts, Cognitive Psychology conveys a sense of excitement in the subject which will be sure to engage and enthuse any student