type–token distinction

in semantics and semiotics, the distinction between a general category of items having certain defining features (type) and a particular exemplar of that category (token). A token is taken to possess the essential properties of the type to which it belongs and will thus have a representative function. According to some theories, the type–token distinction plays an important role in semantic memory. [introduced by Charles S. Peirce]

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

October 18th 2024

cofigurative culture

a society or culture in which people learn chiefly from other people in the same age group, so that, for example, children learn mostly from children and young adults from young adults. Compare postfigurative culture; prefigurative culture. [coined by U.S. anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901–1978)]