George Lakoff on Exemplars and prototypes

[David B. Kronenfeld]

At 09:50 AM 10/16/98 -0700, George Lakoff wrote:

...
>
>There are many different types of prototypes, each with different inference
>patterns
>(e.g., typical cases, ideal cases, social stereotypes, centers of radial
>categories, etc.) and
>various types of exemplars, again with different inference patterns (e.g.,
>paragons, salient examplars, antiparagons, etc.).

        In the sense that this list represent ways in which some item can be
focal within the set of referents of some expression, and thus represents
kinds of focality that we should be aware of in our research, I agree.  At
the same time, though, I want to warn against the possibility of taking this
list (or others like it) as too directly representing the distinctions that
inhere in the phenomena themselves.  Until we have a better understanding of
the reasoning processes involved, including the underlying abilities,
perceptions, and presuppositions these reasoning processes build on, such a
typology seems premature.  Relevant here is the question concerning the
degree to which we sort potential referents into some pre-existing kinds of
relational categories vs. construct our representations of relationships
among referents in some more constructivist or even ad hoc manner.
>
>Psychologists have been fairly sloppy in not distinguishing among the
>different logical types -- largely,I think, because they tend not to study
>inferences. I find this fairly bizarre, because inferences are what
>reasoning is about.
>
        Yes !

                                        David Kronenfeld