Search
photo of James Hampton

Professor James Hampton

Professor Emeritus

School of Health & Medical Sciences Department of Psychology and Neuroscience

Contact details

Personal links

About

Overview

After studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge, Professor Hampton took his PhD in Psychology at University College London before moving to City University London in 1977. Since then he has held Visiting Appointments in the USA at Stanford, Cornell, Chicago, Yale and New York Universities, as well as being a Visiting Fellow at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, the Catholic University, Leuven, Belgium, and the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. In 1996 he was a Senior Fulbright Fellow.

He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, and a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. He is an Editor for the journal Cognitive Science. Since his retirement in September 2021, James has been Emeritus Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience in the newly formed City St. George's, University of London.

His research interests have broadly concerned the interface between psychology, philosophy and linguistics as applied to the problem of concepts and word meaning.

Professor Hampton has championed a view of concepts known as the Prototype Model, according to which people represent concepts by concentrating on clear central examples rather than on the boundary cases between one concept and another.

He has also published a series of studies of Conceptual Combination, in which he showed that the way in which simple logical connectives such as "and", "or" and "not" operate in natural language is only approximately related to their operation in set logic. An explanation is provided by the proposal that when we form a complex concept such as "Bird that is also a Pet", a process is invoked that seeks to integrate the prototype information representing each concept into a single composite.

Qualifications

  • PhD, University College London, United Kingdom, October 1972 - July 1976

Employment

  • Visiting Scholar, École Normale Supérieure, France, April - August 2019
  • Visiting Scholar, KU Leuven, Belgium, September - December 2018
  • External Examiner, University of Surrey, United Kingdom, September 2012 - August 2015
  • External Examiner, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom, September 2012 - August 2016
  • Visiting Professor, New York University, United States, September - December 2010
  • Visiting Scholar, New York University, United States, January - June 2003
  • Professor, Yale University, United States, September - December 2002
  • External Examiner, Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom, 1997 - 2000
  • Associate Professor, University of Chicago, United States, January - June 1996
  • External Examiner, University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, 1996 - 2000
  • External Examiner, Open University, United Kingdom, 1994 - 1998
  • Head of Department, City, University of London, United Kingdom, 1992 - 2000
  • Associate Professor, Cornell University, United States, January - May 1988
  • Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, United States, September 1984 - June 1985

Languages

French (can read, write, speak, understand spoken) and Italian (can read, speak, understand spoken)

Teaching

Modules Taught on BSc Psychology

- PS1002 Professional Development for Psychology
- PS2001 Research Methods in Psychology
- PS3002 Concepts and categorization
- PS3001 Psychology Project

Contribution to Masters Programmes

MSc Research Methods in Psychology
- PSM518 Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience
MSc in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership
- INM407 Psychology of Creativity and Innovation

Research

Professor Hampton's research concerns the psychology of concepts and categorization, including the way in which people understand the world by classifying objects, people, events or situations into different conceptual types or categories, and problems arising from the vagueness of word meanings

Publications

Publications by category

Books (3)

  • Hampton, J.A. and Winter, Y. (Eds.), (2017). Compositionality and Concepts in Linguistics and Psychology. Springer. ISBN 9783319459752.
  • Moss, H. and Hampton, J. (2004). Conceptual Representation. Hove: Psychology Press. ISBN 9781841699585.
  • Mechelen, I.V., Hampton, J.A., Michalski, R.S. and Theuns, P. (1993). Categories and concepts: Theoretical views and inductive data analysis. London: Academic Press.

Chapters (40)

  • Hampton, J.A. (2025). How Do People Use and Appraise Concepts? Synthese Library (pp. 181-198). Springer Nature Switzerland. ISBN 9783031985195.
  • Hampton, J. (2024). Conceptual Combination1. Knowledge, Concepts And Categories (pp. 133-160). Psychology Press.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2020). Investigating Differences in People’s Concept Representations. Shifting Concepts (pp. 67-82). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198803331.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2020). Investigating Individual Differences in Concepts. In Marques, T. and Wikforss, A. (Eds.), Shifting Concepts: The Philosophy and Psychology of Conceptual Variability (pp. 67-82). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198803331.
  • Hampton, J.A. and Winter, Y. (2017). Introduction. Compositionality and Concepts in Linguistics and Psychology (pp. 1-7). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. ISBN 9783319459752.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2017). Compositionality and Prototype Concepts. In Hampton, J.A. and Winter, Y. (Eds.), Compositionality and Concepts in Linguistics and Psychology (pp. 95-121). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. ISBN 9783319459776.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2017). Compositionality and Concepts. Language, Cognition, and Mind (pp. 95-121). Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783319459752.
  • Hampton, J.A. and Winter, Y. (2017). Introduction. Language, Cognition, and Mind (pp. 1-7). Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783319459752.
  • Hampton, J.A. and Winter, Y. (2017). Compositionality and Concepts in Linguistics and Psychology Introduction. COMPOSITIONALITY AND CONCEPTS IN LINGUISTICS AND PSYCHOLOGY (pp. 1-7). ISBN 9783319459752.
  • Barque Duran, A., Pothos, E.M., Yearsley, J.M., Hampton, J.A., Busemeyer, J.R. and Trueblood, J.S. (2016). Similarity Judgments: From Classical to Complex Vector Psychological Spaces. Advanced Series on Mathematical Psychology (pp. 415-448). WORLD SCIENTIFIC.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2016). Categories, prototypes and exemplars. ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF SEMANTICS (pp. 125-141). ISBN 9780415661737.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2015). Categories, prototypes and exemplars. In Riemer, N. (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Semantics (pp. 125-141). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 9780367867591.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2015). Concepts in the Semantic Triangle. In Margolis, E. and Laurence, S. (Eds.), The Conceptual Mind: New Directions in the Study of Concepts (pp. 655-676). Massachussets, USA: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262028639.
  • Hampton, J.A. and Jönsson, M.L. (2012). Typicality and compositionality: The logic of combining vague concepts. In Werning, M., Hinzen, W. and Machery, E. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of compositionality Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199541072.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2011). Concepts and natural language. In Bělohlávek, R. and Klir, G.J. (Eds.), Concepts and Fuzzy Logic (pp. 233-258). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262016476.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2011). Conceptual combinations and fuzzy logic. In Bělohlávek, R. and Klir, G.J. (Eds.), Concepts and Fuzzy Logic (pp. 209-231). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262016476.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2010). Concepts in human adults. In Mareschal, D., Quinn, P.C. and Lea, S.E.G. (Eds.), The making of human concepts (pp. 293-311). Oxford: Oxford Univ Press. ISBN 9780199549221.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2009). 5 Stability in Concepts and Evaluating the Truth of Generic Statements. Kinds, Things, and Stuff (pp. 80-99). Oxford University PressNew York. ISBN 0195382897.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2009). Stability in concepts and evaluating the truth of generic statements. In Pelletier, F.J. (Ed.), Kinds, things and stuff: Concepts of generics and mass terms (pp. 80-99). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195382891.
  • Braisby, N.R., Franks, B. and Hampton, J.A. (2007). Essentialism, word use and concepts. In Hanks, P. (Ed.), Lexicology: Critical concepts in linguistics (pp. 27-68). London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415700986.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2001). Prototype representations. Encyclopedia of cognitive science London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780333792612.
  • Hampton, J.A. (2001). The role of similarity in natural categorization. In Hahn, U. and Ramscar, M. (Eds.), Similarity and categorization (pp. 13-28). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198506287.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1999). Concepts. In Wilson, R.A. and Keil, F.C. (Eds.), The MIT encyclopedia of the cognitive sciences (pp. 176-179). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. ISBN 9780262731447.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1998). Between subjects designs. In Nunn, J. (Ed.), Laboratory psychology (pp. 15-38). Hove: Psychology Press. ISBN 9780863777110.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1998). Similarity-based categorization and fuzziness of natural categories. In Sloman, S.A. and Rips, L.J. (Eds.), Similarity and symbols in human thinking (pp. 1-79). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. ISBN 9780262692144.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1998). The role of similarity in how we categorize the world. In Holyoak, K., Gentner, D. and Kokinov, B. (Eds.), Advances in analogy research: Integration of theory and data from the cognitive, comparative and neural sciences Sofia: New Bulgarian University.
  • Braisby, N., Franks, B. and Hampton, J.A. (1997). Essential contradictions: Psychological essentialism and concepts. In Dubois, D. (Ed.), Catégorisation et cognition: De la perception au discours (pp. 106-128). Paris: Editions Kimé. ISBN 9782841741014.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1997). Conceptual combination. In Lamberts, K. and Shanks, D.R. (Eds.), Knowledge, concepts, and categories (pp. 135-162). Hove: Psychology Press. ISBN 9780262621182.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1997). Emergent attributes in combined concepts. In Ward, T.B., Smith, S.M. and Viad, J. (Eds.), Creative thought: An investigation of conceptual structures and processes (pp. 83-110). Washington DC: American Psychological Association Press. ISBN 9781557984043.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1997). Psychological representations of concepts. In Conway, M.A. (Ed.), Cognitive models of memory (pp. 81-110). Hove: Psychology Press. ISBN 9780262531481.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1997). Similarity and categorization. In Ramscar, M., Hahn, U., Cambouropolos, U. and Pain, H. (Eds.), Proceedings of SimCat 1997: An interdisciplinary workshop on similarity and categorisation (pp. 103-109). Edinburgh: Department of Artificial Intelligence, Edinburgh University.
  • Bowler, D.M., Blacher, D., Nazhat, J. and Hampton, J.A. (1993). The effects of additional cues on children's understanding of false belief. In Rudingher, G., Rietz, C., Kleimas, U. and Meiser, T. (Eds.), Developmental psychology in a changing Europe Bonn: Pace.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1993). Prototype models of concept representation. In Mechelen, I.V. (Ed.), Categories and concepts: Theoretical views and inductive data analysis (pp. 67-69). London: Academic Press. ISBN 9780127141756.
  • Hampton, J.A. and Dubois, D. (1993). Psychological models of concepts. In Mechelen, I.V. (Ed.), Categories and concepts: Theoretical views and inductive data analysis (pp. 11-34). London: Academic Press. ISBN 9780127141756.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1991). The combination of prototype concepts. In Schwanenflugel, P.J. and Research, U.O.G.I.F.B. (Eds.), The psychology of word meanings Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN 9780805806618.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1990). Finding a meaning. In Beaumont, J.G. (Ed.), Brain power Scranton: Harpercollins. ISBN 9780060181970.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1990). Attribute inheritance under negation. In Franks, , Braisby, and Meyer, (Eds.), Proceedings of the first Edinburgh round table on the mental lexicon Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1987). Principles from language. In Gardiner, M.M. and Christie, B. (Eds.), Applying cognitive psychology to user-interface design London: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780471911845.
  • Gaskell, G. and Hampton, J.A. (1982). A note on styles in accounting. In Douglas, M. (Ed.), Essays in the sociology of perception London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 9780415291118.
  • Hampton, J.A. (1982). Giving the Grid/Group dimensions an operational definition. In Douglas, M. (Ed.), Essays in the sociology of perception London: Routledge Kegan & Paul. ISBN 9780710008817.

Conference papers and proceedings (13)

  • Kruitwagen, I., Hampton, J.A., Winter, Y. and Zwarts, J. Alternate Categorization: a Formal-Conceptual Semantics of Reciprocal Alternations. .
  • Barque-Duran, A., Pothos, E.M., Yearsley, J.M. and Hampton, J.A. The impact of the Digital Age in Moral Judgments. .
  • Hampton, J.A. Perceptual contrast and response assimilation in sequential categorization without feedback. .
  • Barque-Duran, A., Pothos, E.M., Yearsley, J.M. and Hampton, J.A. Moral Dynamics In Everyday Life: How Does Morality Evolve In Time? .
  • Yearsley, J.M., Pothos, E.M., Duran, A.B. and Hampton, J.A. Diagnosticity: Some theoretical and empirical progress. .
  • Yearsley, J.M., Pothos, E.M., Hampton, J.A. and Barque Duran, A. Towards a Quantum Probability Theory of Similarity Judgments. .doi:10.1007/978-3-319-15931-7_11
  • Hampton, J.A., Heussen, D., Argel, Z. and Kanbi, H. Disambiguating NN combinations with left/right stress. .
  • Heussen, D., Poirier, M., Hampton, J.A. and Aldrovandi, S. An effect of semantic memory on immediate memory in the visual domain. .
  • Hampton, J.A., Jönsson, M.L. and Passanisi, A. The modifier effect: Default inheritance in complex noun phrases. .
  • Heussen, D., Aldrovandi, S., Kusev, P. and Hampton, J.A. Explanations of comparative facts: A shift in focus. .
  • Heussen, D. and Hampton, J.A. Ways of explaining properties. .
  • Hampton, J.A., Francis, D. and Robson, G. Imagery and the interpretation of ambiguous noun-noun combinations. .
  • Hampton, J.A. and Heussen, D. ‘Emeralds are expensive because they are rare’; plausibility of property explanations. .

Journal articles (99)

Professional activities

Editorial activity (2)

  • Action Editor: COGNITIVE SCIENCE, EDITOR, 2015 - present.
  • Member of Editorial Boards: Cognition; Cognitive Science; Journal of Experimental Psychology, General; Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition; Memory & Cognition; Philosophical Psychology, Editorial Board member.