{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4401117634","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00530","title":"Exceptions, Instantiations, and Overgeneralization: Insights into How Language Models Process Generics","display_name":"Exceptions, Instantiations, and Overgeneralization: Insights into How Language Models Process Generics","publication_year":2024,"publication_date":"2024-01-01","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4401117634","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00530"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1162/coli_a_00530","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00530","pdf_url":"https://direct.mit.edu/coli/article-pdf/doi/10.1162/coli_a_00530/2463166/coli_a_00530.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S155526855","display_name":"Computational Linguistics","issn_l":"0891-2017","issn":["0891-2017","1530-9312"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320244","host_organization_name":"Association for Computational Linguistics","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320244"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Association for Computational Linguistics"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Computational Linguistics","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref","doaj"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"diamond","oa_url":"https://direct.mit.edu/coli/article-pdf/doi/10.1162/coli_a_00530/2463166/coli_a_00530.pdf","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5008920438","display_name":"Emily Allaway","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I98677209","display_name":"University of Edinburgh","ror":"https://ror.org/01nrxwf90","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I98677209"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Emily Allaway","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Edinburgh School of Informatics. emily.allaway@ed.ac.uk","University of Edinburgh, School of Informatics. emily.allaway@ed.ac.uk"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Edinburgh School of Informatics. emily.allaway@ed.ac.uk","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I98677209"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Edinburgh, School of Informatics. emily.allaway@ed.ac.uk","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I98677209"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5044250030","display_name":"Chandra Bhagavatula","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6264-0378"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Chandra Bhagavatula","raw_affiliation_strings":["ChipStack AI. chandra@chipstack.ai"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"ChipStack AI. chandra@chipstack.ai","institution_ids":[]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5080544237","display_name":"Jena D. Hwang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3801-294X"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210140341","display_name":"Allen Institute","ror":"https://ror.org/03cpe7c52","country_code":"US","type":"nonprofit","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I4210140341"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Jena D. Hwang","raw_affiliation_strings":["Allen Institute for AI. jenah@allenai.org"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Allen Institute for AI. jenah@allenai.org","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I4210140341"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5109565051","display_name":"Kathleen McKeown","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I78577930","display_name":"Columbia University","ror":"https://ror.org/00hj8s172","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I78577930"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Kathleen McKeown","raw_affiliation_strings":["Columbia University Department of Computer Science. kathy@cs.columbia.edu","Columbia University, Department of Computer Science. kathy@cs.columbia.edu"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Columbia University Department of Computer Science. kathy@cs.columbia.edu","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I78577930"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Columbia University, Department of Computer Science. kathy@cs.columbia.edu","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I78577930"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5022418196","display_name":"Sarah\u2010Jane Leslie","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1268-4908"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I20089843","display_name":"Princeton University","ror":"https://ror.org/00hx57361","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I20089843"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Sarah-Jane Leslie","raw_affiliation_strings":["Princeton University Department of Philosophy and Center for Statistics and Machine Learning. sjleslie@princeton.edu","Princeton University, Department of Philosophy and Center for Statistics and Machine Learning. sjleslie@princeton.edu"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Princeton University Department of Philosophy and Center for Statistics and Machine Learning. sjleslie@princeton.edu","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I20089843"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Princeton University, Department of Philosophy and Center for Statistics and Machine Learning. sjleslie@princeton.edu","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I20089843"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":2,"institutions_distinct_count":4,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":1.3851,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":6,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.83672639,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":89,"max":98},"biblio":{"volume":"50","issue":"4","first_page":"1211","last_page":"1275"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10181","display_name":"Natural Language Processing Techniques","score":0.8901000022888184,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10181","display_name":"Natural Language Processing Techniques","score":0.8901000022888184,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.7065225839614868},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/process","display_name":"Process (computing)","score":0.660273551940918},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/natural-language-processing","display_name":"Natural language processing","score":0.39475542306900024},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/cognitive-science","display_name":"Cognitive science","score":0.39141207933425903},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/data-science","display_name":"Data science","score":0.38018956780433655},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/programming-language","display_name":"Programming language","score":0.2378484308719635},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/psychology","display_name":"Psychology","score":0.14664405584335327}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.7065225839614868},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C98045186","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q205663","display_name":"Process (computing)","level":2,"score":0.660273551940918},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C204321447","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30642","display_name":"Natural language processing","level":1,"score":0.39475542306900024},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C188147891","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q147638","display_name":"Cognitive science","level":1,"score":0.39141207933425903},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2522767166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2374463","display_name":"Data science","level":1,"score":0.38018956780433655},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C199360897","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9143","display_name":"Programming language","level":1,"score":0.2378484308719635},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C15744967","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9418","display_name":"Psychology","level":0,"score":0.14664405584335327}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":4,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1162/coli_a_00530","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00530","pdf_url":"https://direct.mit.edu/coli/article-pdf/doi/10.1162/coli_a_00530/2463166/coli_a_00530.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S155526855","display_name":"Computational Linguistics","issn_l":"0891-2017","issn":["0891-2017","1530-9312"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320244","host_organization_name":"Association for Computational Linguistics","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320244"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Association for Computational Linguistics"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Computational Linguistics","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:doaj.org/article:4b4eed82c1d74937a776448d17c09796","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doaj.org/article/4b4eed82c1d74937a776448d17c09796","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306401280","display_name":"DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by-sa","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-sa","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"Computational Linguistics (2024)","raw_type":"article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:pure.ed.ac.uk:openaire/8718f0da-4d51-47cc-ae55-a8110ab1e9b3","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/8718f0da-4d51-47cc-ae55-a8110ab1e9b3","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400321","display_name":"Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I98677209","host_organization_name":"University of Edinburgh","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I98677209"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"Allaway, E, Bhagavatula, C, Hwang, J D, McKeown, K & Leslie, S-J 2024, 'Exceptions, instantiations, and overgeneralization : Insights into how language models process generics', Computational Linguistics, pp. 1-60. https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00530","raw_type":"info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion"},{"id":"pmh:oai:pure.ed.ac.uk:publications/8718f0da-4d51-47cc-ae55-a8110ab1e9b3","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/files/469884878/Exceptions_instantiations_and_overgeneralization_final_published_version_journal_article_.pdf","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400321","display_name":"Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I98677209","host_organization_name":"University of Edinburgh","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I98677209"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"Allaway, E, Bhagavatula, C, Hwang, J D, McKeown, K & Leslie, S-J 2024, 'Exceptions, instantiations, and overgeneralization : Insights into how language models process generics', Computational Linguistics, pp. 1-60. https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00530","raw_type":"info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1162/coli_a_00530","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00530","pdf_url":"https://direct.mit.edu/coli/article-pdf/doi/10.1162/coli_a_00530/2463166/coli_a_00530.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S155526855","display_name":"Computational Linguistics","issn_l":"0891-2017","issn":["0891-2017","1530-9312"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320244","host_organization_name":"Association for Computational Linguistics","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320244"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Association for Computational Linguistics"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Computational Linguistics","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[{"display_name":"Quality Education","score":0.47999998927116394,"id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/4"}],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":true,"pdf":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W4401117634.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W4401117634.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":133,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W84327095","https://openalex.org/W139033644","https://openalex.org/W159196257","https://openalex.org/W159842150","https://openalex.org/W592558861","https://openalex.org/W1519154507","https://openalex.org/W1535359674","https://openalex.org/W1555547974","https://openalex.org/W1558047881","https://openalex.org/W1560265695","https://openalex.org/W1562465658","https://openalex.org/W1573330584","https://openalex.org/W1573378450","https://openalex.org/W1575079678","https://openalex.org/W1577229747","https://openalex.org/W1583276591","https://openalex.org/W1598858597","https://openalex.org/W1599012702","https://openalex.org/W1785874882","https://openalex.org/W1994655610","https://openalex.org/W1998363560","https://openalex.org/W2001082547","https://openalex.org/W2007978164","https://openalex.org/W2011339838","https://openalex.org/W2020153579","https://openalex.org/W2038721957","https://openalex.org/W2041123118","https://openalex.org/W2043753407","https://openalex.org/W2062539190","https://openalex.org/W2064143191","https://openalex.org/W2065458791","https://openalex.org/W2066832356","https://openalex.org/W2081539155","https://openalex.org/W2090403641","https://openalex.org/W2099120848","https://openalex.org/W2120465900","https://openalex.org/W2121243963","https://openalex.org/W2124741472","https://openalex.org/W2133522613","https://openalex.org/W2142450061","https://openalex.org/W2146213370","https://openalex.org/W2146729151","https://openalex.org/W2147221824","https://openalex.org/W2150906737","https://openalex.org/W2152397575","https://openalex.org/W2155322595","https://openalex.org/W2159863113","https://openalex.org/W2251041112","https://openalex.org/W2252219904","https://openalex.org/W2264742718","https://openalex.org/W2278843926","https://openalex.org/W2498479542","https://openalex.org/W2511522767","https://openalex.org/W2561529111","https://openalex.org/W2579768256","https://openalex.org/W2766247485","https://openalex.org/W2794479611","https://openalex.org/W2896457183","https://openalex.org/W2962735233","https://openalex.org/W2963403617","https://openalex.org/W2965373594","https://openalex.org/W2965595059","https://openalex.org/W2972353900","https://openalex.org/W2981579911","https://openalex.org/W2981913921","https://openalex.org/W2996428491","https://openalex.org/W3022006665","https://openalex.org/W3034995113","https://openalex.org/W3035360782","https://openalex.org/W3082272500","https://openalex.org/W3122033624","https://openalex.org/W3183524006","https://openalex.org/W4221143046","https://openalex.org/W4226278401","https://openalex.org/W4226288657","https://openalex.org/W4229581122","https://openalex.org/W4233203784","https://openalex.org/W4238516238","https://openalex.org/W4239954395","https://openalex.org/W4240018944","https://openalex.org/W4244413289","https://openalex.org/W4249183207","https://openalex.org/W4250950595","https://openalex.org/W4251900293","https://openalex.org/W4256240267","https://openalex.org/W4287758766","https://openalex.org/W4287824654","https://openalex.org/W4292779060","https://openalex.org/W4302565134","https://openalex.org/W4307536702","https://openalex.org/W4321392130","https://openalex.org/W4327810158","https://openalex.org/W4361229528","https://openalex.org/W4362599805","https://openalex.org/W4384662964","https://openalex.org/W4384918448","https://openalex.org/W4385571309","https://openalex.org/W4386566648","https://openalex.org/W4387799916","https://openalex.org/W4389518756","https://openalex.org/W4389520435","https://openalex.org/W4390897835","https://openalex.org/W4401123261","https://openalex.org/W4403296360","https://openalex.org/W6605679447","https://openalex.org/W6606375909","https://openalex.org/W6606461980","https://openalex.org/W6630950817","https://openalex.org/W6633607679","https://openalex.org/W6633608689","https://openalex.org/W6634644694","https://openalex.org/W6634695796","https://openalex.org/W6661124327","https://openalex.org/W6677871789","https://openalex.org/W6681085189","https://openalex.org/W6732527946","https://openalex.org/W6739585900","https://openalex.org/W6755207826","https://openalex.org/W6766673545","https://openalex.org/W6768021236","https://openalex.org/W6769108823","https://openalex.org/W6769583066","https://openalex.org/W6771917389","https://openalex.org/W6777129235","https://openalex.org/W6778883912","https://openalex.org/W6786277296","https://openalex.org/W6795322489","https://openalex.org/W6809646742","https://openalex.org/W6810738896","https://openalex.org/W6851164057","https://openalex.org/W6854866820","https://openalex.org/W6857660365","https://openalex.org/W6860579659"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W4391375266","https://openalex.org/W2748952813","https://openalex.org/W2390279801","https://openalex.org/W2358668433","https://openalex.org/W4396701345","https://openalex.org/W2376932109","https://openalex.org/W2001405890","https://openalex.org/W4396696052","https://openalex.org/W2382290278","https://openalex.org/W4395014643"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Abstract":[0],"Large":[1],"language":[2],"models":[3],"(LLMs)":[4],"have":[5,209],"garnered":[6],"a":[7,32,84,110,137,176,185,189,210],"great":[8],"deal":[9],"of":[10,36,72,128,143,145,150,178,188,191,236,249],"attention":[11],"for":[12,29,160],"their":[13,59],"exceptional":[14],"generative":[15],"performance":[16],"on":[17],"commonsense":[18],"and":[19,91,100,120,162,183,238],"reasoning":[20],"tasks.":[21],"In":[22],"this":[23,105],"work,":[24],"we":[25,107,174,226,260],"investigate":[26,95,202],"LLMs\u2019":[27],"capabilities":[28],"generalization":[30],"using":[31],"particularly":[33],"challenging":[34],"type":[35],"statement:":[37],"generics.":[38,103,207,224,276],"Generics":[39],"express":[40],"generalizations":[41,82],"(e.g.,":[42,61,74,218],"birds":[43,220],"can":[44,63,221],"fly)":[45,64,222],"but":[46],"do":[47,76,246],"so":[48],"without":[49],"explicit":[50],"quantification.":[51],"They":[52],"are":[53],"notable":[54],"because":[55],"they":[56,252],"generalize":[57],"over":[58],"instantiations":[60,121],"sparrows":[62],"yet":[65],"hold":[66],"true":[67],"even":[68],"in":[69,87,113,136,234,239],"the":[70,140,192],"presence":[71],"exceptions":[73,119],"penguins":[75],"not).":[77],"For":[78],"humans,":[79],"these":[80],"generic":[81],"play":[83],"fundamental":[85],"role":[86],"cognition,":[88],"concept":[89],"acquisition,":[90],"intuitive":[92],"reasoning.":[93],"We":[94,125,195,242],"how":[96,203],"LLMs":[97,204,229,245,263],"respond":[98],"to":[99,115,155,165,201,213,255,269],"reason":[101,205,256],"about":[102,206,257],"To":[104],"end,":[106],"first":[108],"propose":[109],"framework":[111],"grounded":[112],"pragmatics":[114],"automatically":[116,166],"generate":[117,167,175],"both":[118],"\u2013":[122],"collectively":[123],"exemplars.":[124],"make":[126],"use":[127,196],"focus\u2014a":[129],"pragmatic":[130],"phenomenon":[131],"that":[132,244,262],"highlights":[133],"meaning-bearing":[134],"elements":[135],"sentence\u2014to":[138],"capture":[139],"full":[141],"range":[142],"interpretations":[144],"generics":[146,182],"across":[147,180],"different":[148],"contexts":[149],"use.":[151],"This":[152],"allows":[153],"us":[154],"derive":[156],"precise":[157],"logical":[158],"definitions":[159],"exemplars":[161,168],"operationalize":[163],"them":[164],"from":[169,275],"LLMs.":[170],"Using":[171],"our":[172,197],"system,":[173],"dataset":[177,200],"\u223c370kexemplars":[179],"\u223c17k":[181],"conduct":[184],"human":[186],"validation":[187],"sample":[190],"generated":[193,199],"data.":[194],"final":[198],"Humans":[208],"documented":[211],"tendency":[212],"conflate":[214],"universally":[215],"quantified":[216],"statements":[217],"all":[219],"with":[223],"Therefore,":[225],"probe":[227],"whether":[228],"exhibit":[230,265],"similar":[231,266],"overgeneralization":[232],"behavior":[233,268],"terms":[235],"quantification":[237],"property":[240,273],"inheritance.":[241],"find":[243,261],"show":[247],"evidence":[248],"overgeneralization,":[250],"although":[251],"sometimes":[253],"struggle":[254],"exceptions.":[258],"Furthermore,":[259],"may":[264],"non-logical":[267],"humans":[270],"when":[271],"considering":[272],"inheritance":[274]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":3},{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":2},{"year":2024,"cited_by_count":1}],"updated_date":"2026-08-26T07:47:46.906454","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}
