What we mean when we say semantic: Toward a multidisciplinary semantic glossary

doi:10.3758/s13423-024-02556-7

Review

. 2025 Feb;32(1):243-280.

doi: 10.3758/s13423-024-02556-7. Epub 2024 Sep 4.

What we mean when we say semantic: Toward a multidisciplinary semantic glossary

Jamie Reilly¹, Cory Shain², Valentina Borghesani³, Philipp Kuhnke^{4

5}, Gabriella Vigliocco⁶, Jonathan E Peelle⁷, Bradford Z Mahon⁸, Laurel J Buxbaum⁹, Asifa Majid¹⁰, Marc Brysbaert¹¹, Anna M Borghi¹², Simon De Deyne¹³, Guy Dove¹⁴, Liuba Papeo¹⁵, Penny M Pexman¹⁶, David Poeppel¹⁷, Gary Lupyan¹⁸, Paulo Boggio¹⁹, Gregory Hickok²⁰, Laura Gwilliams²¹, Leonardo Fernandino²², Daniel Mirman²³, Evangelia G Chrysikou²⁴, Chaleece W Sandberg²⁵, Sebastian J Crutch⁶, Liina Pylkkänen¹⁷, Eiling Yee²⁶, Rebecca L Jackson²⁷, Jennifer M Rodd⁶, Marina Bedny²⁸, Louise Connell²⁹, Markus Kiefer³⁰, David Kemmerer³¹, Greig de Zubicaray³², Elizabeth Jefferies³³, Dermot Lynott²⁹, Cynthia S Q Siew³⁴, Rutvik H Desai³⁵, Ken McRae¹⁶, Michele T Diaz²⁵, Marianna Bolognesi³³, Evelina Fedorenko², Swathi Kiran³⁶, Maria Montefinese³⁷, Jeffrey R Binder²², Melvin J Yap^{4

34}, Gesa Hartwigsen^{4

5}, Jessica Cantlon⁸, Yanchao Bi^{23

38}, Paul Hoffman²³, Frank E Garcea³⁹, David Vinson⁶

Affiliations

¹ Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA. reillyj@temple.edu.
² Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³ University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
⁵ Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
⁶ University College London, London, UK.
⁷ Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
⁸ Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
⁹ Thomas Jefferson University, Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, PA, USA.
¹⁰ University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
¹¹ University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
¹² Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
¹³ University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁴ University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA.
¹⁵ Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University Claude-Bernard Lyon, Lyon, France.
¹⁶ Western University, London, ON, Canada.
¹⁷ New York University, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁸ University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
¹⁹ Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁰ University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
²¹ Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
²² Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
²³ University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
²⁴ Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
²⁵ Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA.
²⁶ University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
²⁷ University of York, York, UK.
²⁸ Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
²⁹ Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland.
³⁰ Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
³¹ Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
³² Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
³³ University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
³⁴ National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
³⁵ University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
³⁶ Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
³⁷ University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
³⁸ Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
³⁹ University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.

PMID: 39231896
PMCID: PMC11836185
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-024-02556-7

Review

What we mean when we say semantic: Toward a multidisciplinary semantic glossary

Jamie Reilly et al. Psychon Bull Rev. 2025 Feb.

. 2025 Feb;32(1):243-280.

doi: 10.3758/s13423-024-02556-7. Epub 2024 Sep 4.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA. reillyj@temple.edu.
² Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³ University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
⁵ Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
⁶ University College London, London, UK.
⁷ Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
⁸ Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
⁹ Thomas Jefferson University, Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, PA, USA.
¹⁰ University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
¹¹ University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
¹² Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
¹³ University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁴ University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA.
¹⁵ Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University Claude-Bernard Lyon, Lyon, France.
¹⁶ Western University, London, ON, Canada.
¹⁷ New York University, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁸ University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
¹⁹ Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁰ University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
²¹ Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
²² Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
²³ University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
²⁴ Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
²⁵ Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA.
²⁶ University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
²⁷ University of York, York, UK.
²⁸ Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
²⁹ Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland.
³⁰ Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
³¹ Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
³² Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
³³ University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
³⁴ National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
³⁵ University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
³⁶ Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
³⁷ University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
³⁸ Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
³⁹ University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.

PMID: 39231896
PMCID: PMC11836185
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-024-02556-7

Abstract

Tulving characterized semantic memory as a vast repository of meaning that underlies language and many other cognitive processes. This perspective on lexical and conceptual knowledge galvanized a new era of research undertaken by numerous fields, each with their own idiosyncratic methods and terminology. For example, "concept" has different meanings in philosophy, linguistics, and psychology. As such, many fundamental constructs used to delineate semantic theories remain underspecified and/or opaque. Weak construct specificity is among the leading causes of the replication crisis now facing psychology and related fields. Term ambiguity hinders cross-disciplinary communication, falsifiability, and incremental theory-building. Numerous cognitive subdisciplines (e.g., vision, affective neuroscience) have recently addressed these limitations via the development of consensus-based guidelines and definitions. The project to follow represents our effort to produce a multidisciplinary semantic glossary consisting of succinct definitions, background, principled dissenting views, ratings of agreement, and subjective confidence for 17 target constructs (e.g., abstractness, abstraction, concreteness, concept, embodied cognition, event semantics, lexical-semantic, modality, representation, semantic control, semantic feature, simulation, semantic distance, semantic dimension). We discuss potential benefits and pitfalls (e.g., implicit bias, prescriptiveness) of these efforts to specify a common nomenclature that other researchers might index in specifying their own theoretical perspectives (e.g., They said X, but I mean Y).

Keywords: Abstraction; Concept; Concreteness; Lexical; Representation; Semantic memory.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval: Not applicable (theoretical review/no human subjects). Consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent to publish: Not applicable. Conflict of interest: We, the authors, have no known conflicts of interest to report.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Consensus mechanism flowchart

**Fig. 2**
A 15-dimension Experiential Semantic Space (Semdist15). *Note*. Semdist15 is a freely available database via the Open Science Foundation or as part of the semdistflow R package. Download at https://osf.io/5bntg/

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

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1. Abdel Rahman, R., & Melinger, A. (2009). Semantic context effects in language production: A swinging lexical network proposal and a review. Language and Cognitive Processes,24(5), 713–734. 10.1080/01690960802597250
1. Alam, T. R. del J. G., Karapanagiotidis, T., Smallwood, J., & Jefferies, E. (2019). Degrees of lateralisation in semantic cognition: Evidence from intrinsic connectivity. NeuroImage, 202, Article 116089. - PubMed
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1. Anderson, A. J., Binder, J. R., Fernandino, L., Humphries, C. J., Conant, L. L., Raizada, R. D. S., Lin, F., & Lalor, E. C. (2019). An Integrated neural decoder of linguistic and experiential meaning. Journal of Neuroscience,39(45), 8969–8987. - PMC - PubMed

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[1] Abrahamsen, A., & Bechtel, W. (2012). History and core themes. The Cambridge handbook of cognitive science (pp. 9–28). Cambridge University Press.

[2] Abrahamsen, A., & Bechtel, W. (2012). History and core themes. The Cambridge handbook of cognitive science (pp. 9–28). Cambridge University Press.

[3] Abdel Rahman, R., & Melinger, A. (2009). Semantic context effects in language production: A swinging lexical network proposal and a review. Language and Cognitive Processes,24(5), 713–734. 10.1080/01690960802597250

[4] Abdel Rahman, R., & Melinger, A. (2009). Semantic context effects in language production: A swinging lexical network proposal and a review. Language and Cognitive Processes,24(5), 713–734. 10.1080/01690960802597250

[5] Alam, T. R. del J. G., Karapanagiotidis, T., Smallwood, J., & Jefferies, E. (2019). Degrees of lateralisation in semantic cognition: Evidence from intrinsic connectivity. NeuroImage, 202, Article 116089. - PubMed

[6] Alam, T. R. del J. G., Karapanagiotidis, T., Smallwood, J., & Jefferies, E. (2019). Degrees of lateralisation in semantic cognition: Evidence from intrinsic connectivity. NeuroImage, 202, Article 116089. - PubMed

[7] Albertella, L., Kirkham, R., Adler, A. B., Crampton, J., Drummond, S. P. A., Fogarty, G. J., Gross, J. J., Zaichkowsky, L., Andersen, J. P., Bartone, P. T., Boga, D., Bond, J. W., Brunyé, T. T., Campbell, M. J., Ciobanu, L. G., Clark, S. R., Crane, M. F., Dietrich, A., Doty, T. J., … Yücel, M. (2023). Building a transdisciplinary expert consensus on the cognitive drivers of performance under pressure: An international multi-panel Delphi study. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1017675 - PMC - PubMed

[8] Albertella, L., Kirkham, R., Adler, A. B., Crampton, J., Drummond, S. P. A., Fogarty, G. J., Gross, J. J., Zaichkowsky, L., Andersen, J. P., Bartone, P. T., Boga, D., Bond, J. W., Brunyé, T. T., Campbell, M. J., Ciobanu, L. G., Clark, S. R., Crane, M. F., Dietrich, A., Doty, T. J., … Yücel, M. (2023). Building a transdisciplinary expert consensus on the cognitive drivers of performance under pressure: An international multi-panel Delphi study. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1017675 - PMC - PubMed

[9] Anderson, A. J., Binder, J. R., Fernandino, L., Humphries, C. J., Conant, L. L., Raizada, R. D. S., Lin, F., & Lalor, E. C. (2019). An Integrated neural decoder of linguistic and experiential meaning. Journal of Neuroscience,39(45), 8969–8987. - PMC - PubMed

[10] Anderson, A. J., Binder, J. R., Fernandino, L., Humphries, C. J., Conant, L. L., Raizada, R. D. S., Lin, F., & Lalor, E. C. (2019). An Integrated neural decoder of linguistic and experiential meaning. Journal of Neuroscience,39(45), 8969–8987. - PMC - PubMed

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What we mean when we say semantic: Toward a multidisciplinary semantic glossary

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What we mean when we say semantic: Toward a multidisciplinary semantic glossary

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