Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Asymmetric generalization patterns for definite and indefinite singular genericsIn two experiments, we investigated the role of grammatical form in inferring the conceptual status of properties in genericsentences. We trained participants on novel properties in pseudoword sentences with bare plural (BP), indefinite (IS) and definitesingular (DS) subjects. In the test phase, participants rated the relationship between trained properties and novel subjects: Wefound that, compared to BP, properties trained in the IS condition increase expectations of principled connections whereasDS-trained properties diminish expectations of statistical connections. BP subjects acted as a control since they were equallyjudged to be statistically or principally connected. These results support the theoretical claim that IS have quantificational forceand DS directly refer to kinds. They leave open the puzzle of the nature of BP subjects which seem to be ambiguous betweenthe two and also the only one to convey statistical connections.