The concept of prototype and family resemblance in cognitive semantics (an experimental study): An extended abstract submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. in Psychology

Abstract

Annotation: The purpose of my experiment is to investigate whether non-basic vocabulary items learnt subsequent to basic terms are retained or not. What is considered in the experimental study is whether subjects who are foreign language learners will provide similar prototypical effects over a number of categories as native speakers. My hypothesis is that a broader rage of category members will be produced by English learners. It is also expected that there will be cultural and geographical differences too. The subjects were divided into two groups of 36. The first group is English native speakers, residing in England and the second group is Greek students of English of Intermediate level, residing in Greece. Subjects were asked to state the first example that they thought of each category. The data was then arranged by category in the manner of Rosch. After the findings of the above experiment had been collected, a second, validation experiment was carried out. In many categories, the English Learner group responded with a wider variety of response than the native speakers. Geographical / cultural differences are apparent in these two categories where the prototype given is strongly linked to the geography and culture.