Many of the problems studied in cognitive science are inductive problems, requiring people to evaluate hypotheses in the light of data. The key to solving these problems successfully is having the right inductive biases--assumptions about the world that make it possible to choose between hypotheses that are equally consistent with the observed…

Designed to determine whether abstract and concrete concepts are classified similarly, this study used three separate experiments to explore the vertical and horizontal dimensions used by computer scientists to categorize the common concepts of their field. It found that concrete concept categorization operates over a wider range than previously…