Glossary N

Glossary N

- Natural language categories : Natural language categories are language terms that include a wide range of exemplars; most natural language categories are hierarchical in nature, as in animal; canine; dog

Natural law refers to the philosophical perspective that certain immutable laws are fundamental to human nature and can be readily ascertained through reason.

Natural partitions hypothesis refers tothe notion that the world makes obvious the things that take nouns as labels, that is, that the meanings that nouns encode are natural chunks of meaning. That makes the task of learning nouns one in which the child must simply find the label - the meaning is provided outside of language. Compare Relational relativity hypothesis.

Natural reinforcers are reinforcers that are naturally provided for a certain behavior; that is, they are a typical consequence of the behavior within that setting.

Natural rights refer to the rights which, according to natural law theorists, individuals retain in the face of government action and interests.

Natural selection refers to the evolutionary process by which nature selects traits that best enable organisms to survive and reproduce in particular environmental niches.

Natural therapy is the treatment method used by advocates of natural health, which is a form of alternative medicine.

Natural-kind concepts refer to concepts pertaining to naturally occurring substances.