Educational Background
- PhD in Cognitive Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sandeep Prasada
Professor and Director for the General Psychology MA Program
- Research
- Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology
Dr. Prasada's research investigates the basic mechanisms of lexical and conceptual representation and development.
See Contact DetailsAreas of Research
My research investigates the basic mechanisms of lexical and conceptual representation and development. The research addresses questions such as the following. How do we effortlessly form concepts of a wide variety of things (e.g. dogs, trees, tables, wood, people, mothers, fathers, good, bad, freedom, justice). Are different kinds of mechanisms needed to form concepts of different types? How are conceptual representations related to perceptual and linguistic representations? Do the mechanisms of conceptual representation change with development? How are concepts represented in the brain? We use a variety of techniques to study these questions.
Selected Publications
- Prasada, S. & Hall, D.G. (2019). Instance-of-object-kind representations. Cognition, 189, 209-220. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31002983/https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1YuzQ2Hx2fPRz
- Haward, P., Wagner, L., Carey, S. & Prasada, S. (2018). The development of principled connections and kind representations. Cognition, 176, 255-268.
- Prasada, S. (2017). The scope of formal explanation. Psychonomic Bulletin & Research, 24, 1478-1487.
- Prasada, S., Khemlani, S., Leslie, S-J, Glucksberg, S. (2013). Conceptual distinctions amongst generics. Cognition, 126, 405-422.
- Knobe, J., Prasada, S., & Newman, G.E. (2013). Dual character concepts and the normative dimension of common sense conception. Cognition, 127, 242-257.
- Prasada, S., Hennefield, L., & Otap, D. (2012). Conceptual and linguistic representations of kinds and classes. Cognitive Science, 36, 1224-1250.
- Prasada, S., & Dillingham, E.M. (2009). Representation of principled connections: A window onto the formal aspect of common sense conception. Cognitive Science, 33, 401-448.
- Prasada, S. & Dillingham, E.M. (2006). Principled and statistical connections in common sense conception. Cognition, 99, 73-11.
- Prasada, S., Salajegheh, A., Bowles, A., & Poeppel, D. (2008). Characterizing kinds and instances of kinds: ERP reflections. Language and Cognitive Processes, 23, 226-240.
- Prasada, S. & Dillingham, E.M. (2006). Principled and statistical connections in common sense conception. Cognition, 99, 73-112.
- Prasada, S., Ferenz, K., & Haskell, T. (2002). Conceiving of entities as objects and stuff. Cognition, 83, 141-165.
- Ferenz, K. & Prasada, S. (2002) Singular or plural? Children's knowledge of the factors that determine the appropriate form of count nouns. Journal of Child Language, 29, 49-70.