LexiCog Main Projects
Creators: name: Watts, Joseph
name: Low, Jason
name: Greenhill, Simon
name: Richter-Gravier, Raphael
Publisher: name: Open Science Framework
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Multicultural Psychology
subject: Linguistics
subject: FOS: Languages and literature
subject: Personality and Social Contexts
subject: Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics
subject: Social Psychology
subject: Quantitative Psychology
subject: Social and Behavioral Sciences
subject: Psychology
subject: FOS: Psychology
subject: Comparative Psychology

description: This preregistration is for the Marsden funded project titled “Cross-cultural Patterns in Theory of Mind”. The projects in this grant investigate cross-linguistic variation in mental state use, with a focus on Pacific languages. Here we set out the research questions and hypotheses for three projects. The sample sizes used in these projects will be determined by the availability of resources and research time. All three projects are anticipated to use novel text analytic methods and are partly exploratory in nature. For these reasons, it is not feasible to outline the methods at this point. Project 1: Frequency of mental state vocabulary across lexicons This project will compare lexicons (the vocabulary of a language) across languages and test whether the proportion of lexicons dedicated to mental states varies across languages. Data Sources: - Data will be sourced from open access dictionaries (e.g. historical dictionaries, online dictionaries etc.). Research Questions: - Does the proportion of lexicon dedicated to mental state vocabulary differ across languages? - Are there differences in the kinds of mental states used across societies? Hypotheses: - In cultures where it is less socially acceptable to talk about mental states (those characterised as having a doctrine of opacity of others minds), there will be less need for mental state terms, so a lower proportion of vocabularies will be dedicated to mental states. - A doctrine of opacity of others minds will supress mental state vocabulary in general, not just certain kinds of mental states (e.g. epistemic states, intentions, desires etc.). Project 2: Frequency of mental state vocabulary use across languages This project will compare how commonly mental state terms are used across languages. In this project we will also investigate whether different kinds of mental state attributions are more common in some languages than others. Data Sources: - Frequency of word use will be measured using digitalised published literature in each language (e.g. digitalised newspaper collections, children’s stories, court transcripts etc.). Research Questions: - Does the frequency of explicit mental state vocabulary use differ across languages? - Does the frequency of mental state attributions made to oneself and others vary across languages? - Does the frequency of mental state attributions vary generally, or is variation specific to particular kinds of mental states? Hypotheses: - In cultures where it is less socially acceptable to talk about mental states (those characterised as having a doctrine of opacity of others minds), mental state vocabulary will be used less frequently than in cultures where it is more socially acceptable to talk about mental states. - The reduction in mental state terms will reduce mental state attributions to others more than it will reduce mental state attributions to oneself. - The reduction in mental state vocabulary use will generalise across all types of mental state concepts. Project 3: Variation in knowledge concepts across languages This project will test how concepts of “to know” differ across languages. The project will test whether “to know” is a core, semantically stable concept within Theory of Mind. This project will also test what features of knowledge concepts are most cross-linguistically stable, and which are most cross-linguistically labile. Data sources: - This project will used established word embedded vectors to identify the semantic properties of knowledge concepts in different languages. These concepts will then be compared across languages using translation dictionaries. Research Questions: - To what extent are the semantics of knowledge concepts similar or different across languages? - How stable are the semantics of knowledge concepts compared to the semantic of other “core” concepts of human cognition? Hypotheses: - The semantics of “to know” concepts will be more stable across languages than other mental state terms. - The semantics of “to know” concepts will be similarly stable to other domains of core knowledge such as the numbers one two and three, as well as basic colour terms.