{"pk":21398,"title":"Superordinate referring expressions in abstraction: Introducing the concept-level reference game","subtitle":null,"abstract":"We study referential communication about concepts at different levels of abstraction in an interactive concept-level reference game. To better understand processes of abstraction, we investigate superordinate referring expressions (animal). Previous work identified two main factors that influence speakers' choice of referring expressions for concepts: the immediate context and the basic-level effect, i.e. a preference for basic-level terms such as dog. Here we introduce a new concept-level reference game that allows us to study differences in the basic-level effect between comprehension and production and to elicit superordinate referring expressions experimentally. We find that superordinate referring expressions become relevant for groups of objects. Further, we reproduce the basic-level effect in production but not in comprehension. In conclusion, even though basic-level terms are most readily accessible, speakers tailor their expressions to the context, allowing the listener to identify the target concept.","language":"eng","license":{"name":"","short_name":"","text":null,"url":""},"keywords":[{"word":"Linguistics; Concepts and categories; Interactive behavior; Language Production; Language understanding; Pragmatics"}],"section":"Papers with Oral Presentation","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/31n5d3p6","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Kristina","middle_name":"","last_name":"Kobrock","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Osnabrück","department":""},{"first_name":"Charlotte","middle_name":"","last_name":"Uhlemann","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Osnabrück","department":""},{"first_name":"Nicole","middle_name":"","last_name":"Gotzner","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Osnabrück","department":""}],"date_submitted":null,"date_accepted":null,"date_published":"2024-01-01T18:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/21398/galley/10997/download/"},{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/21398/galley/21843/download/"}]}