Abstract
Markman and Stilwell (2001) argued that many natural categories name roles in relational systems, and so they are role-governed categories. This view predicts instantiating a novel relational structure licenses the creation of novel role-governed categories. This paper supports this claim and helps to specify the mechanisms underlying this licensing. Event-related potentials were recorded while participants read passages of text. Participants instantiated novel relational representations by interpreting novel verbs derived from nouns during reading. Sentences later, comprehension of novel role terms derived from the novel verb was facilitated relative to a control condition where the novel verb was paraphrased using the root noun in its familiar form. This comprehension facilitation was marked by a reduced negativity elicited from the role term in the Novel Verb condition relative to the Paraphrase from 400 to 500 ms post-stimulus-onset. This relative difference in negativity is consistent with both the N400, which is a marker of semantic integration, and the Nref effect, which reflects the working memory load required to resolve reference. Additionally, because this increased negativity persisted until 670 ms post-stimulus-onset, and not that the Paraphrase condition elicited an increased positivity (i.e., the P600), we ruled out that the licensing effect is rooted in morphosyntactic processes.
Highlights
Theories of categorization typically assume that categories are represented by some set of features that describe the properties of category members (e.g., Rosch, 1973)
That research leaves open questions about how relational structures license role-govern categories. We extend these previous findings by recording Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) elicited by Goldwater’s et al (2011) task to further constrain proposals about the processing mechanisms responsible for the licensing of novel role-governed categories
Statistical testing showed that the ERPs were more negative in the Paraphrase versus Novel Verb conditions over medial frontocentral sites and parietal sites from 400 to 506 ms and widespread posterior sites from 509 to 670 ms; see Figures 2 and 3
Summary
Theories of categorization typically assume that categories are represented by some set of features that describe the properties of category members (e.g., Rosch, 1973). Guest and host name different roles in the event of visiting (Markman and Stilwell, 2001; Goldwater et al, 2011). Events themselves are represented as relational structures, which are composed of relational predicates and the arguments they bind (see Figure 1; Markman, 1999). Categories that name bound relational roles (such as guest or host) are role-governed categories (see Ross and Murphy, 1999; Gentner and Kurtz, 2005; Rein et al, 2010; Goldwater et al, 2011, for empirical demonstrations distinguishing role-governed from feature-based categories)
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