Language learning and concept acquisition : foundational issues

List of Contributors Preface PART I. EMPIRICAL ASPECTS OF FIRST LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Biological Dispositions to Learn Language, Lila Gleitman Evidence from Great Apes concerning the Biological Bases of Language, Mark S. Seidenberg Productivity and Conservatism in Language Acquisition, Steven Pinker PART II. HYPOTHESIS LEARNING AND LANGUAGE LEARNING: FORMAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS Learning Machines, John Case An Analysis of a Learning Paradigm, Daniel N. Osherson, Michael Stob, and Scott Weinstein The Rise of Selective Theories: A Case Study and Some Lessons from Immunology, Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini PART III. CONCEPT ACQUISITION The Acquisition of Natural Kinds and Artifact Terms, Frank C. Keil Constraints on Semantic Development, Susan Carey Theories of Constraints and Constraints on Theories, Frank C. Keil and Michael H. Kelly Children's Acquisition of Metalinguistic and Metacognitive Verbs, David R. Olson and Janet W. Astington Author Index Subject Index