24.2442, Confs: Semantics, Pragmatics, Cognitive Sci, Psycholing/Netherlands

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LINGUIST List: Vol-24-2442. Sat Jun 15 2013. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 24.2442, Confs: Semantics, Pragmatics, Cognitive Sci, Psycholing/Netherlands

Moderator: Damir Cavar, Eastern Michigan U <damir at linguistlist.org>

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Monica Macaulay, U of Wisconsin Madison
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Anja Wanner, U of Wisconsin Madison
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Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 09:26:43
From: Choonkyu Lee [c.lee at uu.nl]
Subject: Concept Composition & Experimental Semantics/Pragmatics

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Concept Composition & Experimental Semantics/Pragmatics 

Date: 02-Sep-2013 - 03-Sep-2013 
Location: Utrecht, Netherlands 
Contact: Choonkyu Lee 
Contact Email: c.lee at uu.nl 
Meeting URL: http://logiccommonsense.wp.hum.uu.nl/events/workshop2013/ 

Linguistic Field(s): Cognitive Science; Pragmatics; Psycholinguistics; Semantics 

Meeting Description: 

Concept Composition & Experimental Semantics/Pragmatics
Utrecht Institute of Linguistics OTS
In conjunction with XPRAG-2013

Invited Speakers:

Stephen Crain (Macquarie University)
James Hampton (City University London)
Hans Kamp (University of Stuttgart, University of Texas at Austin)

One of the hardest problems in experimental semantics and pragmatics is the way meanings of complex expressions are derived from simple lexical concepts and connected to concept representations. While concepts corresponding to simple words can be represented as feature lists or prototypes (Rosch & Mervis 1975, Hampton 2006), the ways in which such representations may be derived for composite expressions is highly puzzling, both in terms of experimental measures and in terms of formal analysis (Kamp & Partee 1995, Hampton & Jönsson 2012). Since the introduction of this problem by Osherson & Smith (1981), much experimental and theoretical work has been done by cognitive psychologists on the derivation of concept representations. However, in many ways this work has been carried out independently of related on-going work on meaning and use of logical operators (Crain & Khlentzos 2008) and compositionality (Bemis & Pylkkänen 2011). As a result, the interactions between concept combination, meaning and use of logical concepts, and compositionality principles have remained by and large underexplored.

The aim of this workshop is to bring together theoretical linguists, psycholinguists and cognitive psychologists in search of a common ground for on-going work on compositionality and concepts. Relevant questions are:

- Is there evidence for a general procedure mapping lexical concepts into concepts corresponding to complex expressions?
- Are there inherent and experimentally-supported distinctions between logical concepts (e.g. quantifiers, conjunctions and disjunction) and concepts corresponding to content words?
- How is the composition of concepts sensitive to contextual factors? Are there experimentally-supported generalizations to make in this domain?
- Are there significant distinctions in concept composition between different conceptual domains (space, time, quantification, Boolean operators, colors, etc.)?
- What are the interactions between concept composition and phenomena involving vagueness, implicatures, or scalar expressions?

The workshop will be held in conjunction with XPRAG-2013, which is under the auspices of the ESF research network EuroXprag. The workshop is part of the VICI project ‘Between Logic and Common Sense’ supported by NWO, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.

Other Relevant Links:

XPrag2013: http://xprag2013.wp.hum.uu.nl
XPrag Network: http://www.euro-xprag.org/

Selected References:

Bemis, D. K. and L. Pylkkänen. 2011. Simple Composition: An MEG investigation into the comprehension of minimal linguistic phrases. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(8): 2801-2814.
Crain, S. 2008. The interpretation of disjunction in universal grammar. Language and Speech 51, 151-169.
Crain, S. and D. Khlentzos. 2008. Is logic Innate? Biolinguistics 2(1), 24-56.
Hampton, J. and M. L. Jönsson. 2012. Typicality and compositionality: The logic of combining vague concepts. In M. Werning, W. Hintzen and E. Machery (Eds.), pp. 385-402. Oxford Handbook of Compositionality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hampton, J. 2006. Concepts as Prototypes, in B.H.Ross (ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory, Vol. 46. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 79-113.
Kamp, H. and B. Partee. 1995. Prototype Theory and Compositionality. Cognition 57:129-191.
Osherson, D. and E. Smith. 1981. On the adequacy of prototype theory as a theory of concepts. Cognition 9:35-58.
Rosch, E. R. and C. B. Mervis. 1975. Family resemblances: studies in the internal structure of categories. Cognitive Psychology 7: 573-605. 

Call for Participation:

Program

Monday 2 September 2013

09:30
Opening

09:40
James Hampton (City University London)
Composition and prototype concepts

10:40
Coffee

11:00
Lotte Hogeweg (Radboud University Nijmegen)
Stone lions and unripe bananas: Solving conflicts in concept composition

11:40
Choonkyu Lee (Utrecht University)
Color typicality knowledge and the interpretation of color terms

12:20
Discussion

12:45
Lunch

14:30
Liina Pylkkänen (NYU)
Unpacking the brain basis of concept composition with MEG

15:10
Maria Mercedes Piñango and Ashwini Deo (Yale University)
Aspectual verbs and real-time concept composition

15:50
Tea

16:10
Louise McNally (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Gemma Boleda (University of Texas at Austin) and Marco Baroni (University of Trento)
Conceptual vs. referential affordance in concept composition

16:50
Discussion

18:00
Workshop dinner

Tuesday 3 September 2013

09:30
Opening

09:40
Stephen Crain (Macquarie University)
How to derive the basic meanings of logical expressions

10:40
Coffee

11:00
Marisa Casillas (Stanford University) and Patricia Amaral (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
The internal structure of categories: Resemblances and typicality in acquisition

11:40
Galit W. Sassoon (Bar-Ilan University)
The role of semantic composition in the setting of adjectival dimensions and comparison classes

12:20
Discussion

12:45
Lunch

14:30
Eva Poortman (Utrecht University)
Typicality effects and the interpretation of reciprocity & conjunction

15:10
Yoad Winter (Utrecht University)
Logical operators as natural concepts

15:50
Tea

16:10
Hans Kamp (University of Stuttgart, University of Texas at Austin)
TBA

17:10
Discussion

End of workshop

Organizers (Utrecht University):

Choonkyu Lee
Eva Poortman
Yoad Winter

Registration for the workshop is free of charge, but please sign up by emailing Eva Poortman: E.B.Poortman[@]uu.nl. In the email, please indicate whether you plan to attend the workshop dinner so we can estimate the number of attendees.








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