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Trans-inclusive gender categories are cognitively natural

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On the basis of decades of cognitive science research into the nature of lexical concepts, we argue that gender categories that reflect the reality of the experiences of transgender people are more useful and cognitively natural than sex-based category definitions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

    Andrew Perfors

  2. Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Steven T. Piantadosi

  3. Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Steven T. Piantadosi & Celeste Kidd

Authors
  1. Andrew Perfors
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  2. Steven T. Piantadosi
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  3. Celeste Kidd
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew Perfors.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Perfors, A., Piantadosi, S.T. & Kidd, C. Trans-inclusive gender categories are cognitively natural. Nat Hum Behav 7, 1609–1611 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01657-y

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