Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Table of Contents - 2008 - Volume 31, Issue 04  

Open Peer Commentary

Relational processing in conceptual combination and analogy

Zachary Estesa1 and Lara L. Jonesa2

a1 Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom

a2 Department of Psychology, Francis Marion University, Florence, SC 29501. Z.Estes@warwick.ac.uk http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/psych/people/academic/zestes ljones@fmarion.edu http://acsweb.fmarion.edu/ljones/

Abstract

We evaluate whether evidence from conceptual combination supports the relational priming model of analogy. Representing relations implicitly as patterns of activation distributed across the semantic network provides a natural and parsimonious explanation of several key phenomena observed in conceptual combination. Although an additional mechanism for role resolution may be required, relational priming offers a promising approach to analogy.

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