Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Johns Hopkins University
What is a word meaning such that it plays an organizing role within the language of thought? In the view explored here, word meanings are algorithms that fulfill the dual roles of combining with other thoughts and indicating psychological contents. As algorithms, they have a particular structure. And, this structure, being an aspect of psychological content, can be elucidated through psychological experiments. I will present several cases that center around quantification (e.g., Most, More, All, Each). For each case I will discuss facts about visual cognition and number and show how these facts impact the meanings we have. Evidence will come from adults, children and infants.