Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Table of Contents - June 2011 - Volume 34, Issue 03  

Open Peer Commentary

Rebooting the bootstrap argument: Two puzzles for bootstrap theories of concept development

Lance J. Ripsa1 and Susan J. Hesposa1

a1 Psychology Department, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208. rips@northwestern.edu http://mental.psych.northwestern.edu hespos@northwestern.edu http://groups.psych.northwestern.edu/infantcognitionlab/sue.html

Abstract

The Origin of Concepts sets out an impressive defense of the view that children construct entirely new systems of concepts. We offer here two questions about this theory. First, why doesn't the bootstrapping process provide a pattern for translating between the old and new systems, contradicting their claimed incommensurability? Second, can the bootstrapping process properly distinguish meaning change from belief change?

(Online publication May 19 2011)

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    Précis of The Origin of Concepts Susan Carey Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 scarey@wjh.harvard.edu