Steven Verheyen
I’m an Assistant Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences. Prior to working at Erasmus University Rotterdam, I was a member of Institut Jean Nicod and the KU Leuven Laboratory of Experimental Psychology.
I am currently serving as Executive Editor of the Review of Philosophy and Psychology (RoPP), a peer-reviewed journal edited quarterly at Institut Jean-Nicod and published by Springer.
My work on individual differences in language use is positioned at the intersection of quantitative psychology, philosophy of language, and cognitive linguistics.
I have expertise in the fields of concepts and categories, semantics, and psychometrics.
You can contact me by e-mail at .
Under review
Publications in International Journals
Edelijn, Y., Øvreeide, V. D., & Verheyen, S. (2023). Scrolling through fake news: The effect of presentation order on misinformation retention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied [preprint] [osf]
Pownall, M., Azevedo, F., König, L. M., Slack, H. R., Evans, T. R., Flack, Z., Grinschgl, S., Elsherif, M. M., Gilligan-Lee, K. A., de Oliveira, C. M. F., Gjoneska, B., Kalandadze, T., Button, K., Ashcroft-Jones, S., Terry, J., Albayrak-Aydemir, N., Děchtěrenko, F., Alzahawi, S., Baker, B. J., …, & FORRT (2023). Teaching open and reproducible scholarship: A critical review of the evidence base for current pedagogical methods and their outcomes. Royal Society Open Science, 10, 221255. [pdf]
Zaman, J., Yu, K., & Verheyen, S. (2023). The idiosyncratic nature of how individuals perceive, represent, and remember their surroundings and its impact on learning-based generalization. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General [pdf] [data]
Egré, P., Spector, B., Mortier, A., & Verheyen, S. (2022). On the optimality of vagueness: "Around", "Between" and the Gricean Maxims. Linguistics and Philosophy [preprint] [scripts]
Parsons, S., Azevedo, F., Elsherif, M. M., Guay, S., Shahim, O. N., Govaart, G. H., Norris, E., O'Mahony, A., Parker, A. J., Todorovic, A., Pennington, C. R., Garcia-Pelegrin, E., Lazić, A., Robertson, O., Middleton, S. L., Valentini, B., McCuaig, J., Baker, B. J., Collins, E., ..., & Aczel, B. (2022). A community-sourced glossary of open scholarship terms. Nature Human Behaviour, 6, 312-318. [pdf] [glossary]
Schoenegger, P., & Verheyen, S. (2022). Taking a closer look at the Bayesian Truth Serum: A registered report. Experimental Psychology, 69(4), 226-239. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., White, A., & Storms, G. (2022). A comparison of the Spatial Arrangement Method and the Total-Set Pairwise Rating Method for obtaining similarity data in the conceptual domain. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 57(2-3), 356-384. [pdf] [data]
Brouwer, A., Jin, X., Waldi, A. H., & Verheyen, S. (2021). Age biases the judgment rather than the perception of an ambiguous figure. Scientific Reports, 11, 8627. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., & Peterson, M. (2021). Can we use conceptual spaces to model moral principles? Review of Philosophy and Psychology, 12, 373-395. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2021). Whether the Pairwise Rating Method and the Spatial Arrangement Method yield comparable dimensionalities depends on the dimensionality choice procedure. Methods in Psychology, 5, 100060. [pdf] [data]
Heyman, T., Vankrunkelsven, H., Voorspoels, W., White, A., Storms, G., & Verheyen, S. (2020). When cheating is an honest mistake: A critical evaluation of the matrix task as a measure of dishonesty. Collabra: Psychology, 6(1), 12. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., De Deyne, S., Linsen, S., & Storms, G. (2020). Lexicosemantic, affective, and distributional norms for 1,000 Dutch adjectives. Behavior Research Methods, 52, 1108-1121. [pdf] [data]
White, A., Malt, B. C., Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2020). Development of cross-language lexical influence: divergence, not convergence. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23, 241-243. [pdf]
White, A., Malt, B. C., Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2020). Language-specificity in monolingual and bilingual later lexical development. Language Learning and Development, 16(4), 309-329. [preprint] [data]
Verheyen, S., Droeshout, E., & Storms, G. (2019). Age-related degree and criteria differences in semantic categorization. Journal of Cognition, 2(1): 17. [pdf] [data] [supplementary materials]
Verheyen, S., White, A., & Egré, P. (2019). Revealing criterial vagueness in inconsistencies. Open Mind: Discoveries in Cognitive Science, 3, 41-51. [pdf] [data] [supplementary materials]
Vankrunkelsven, H., Verheyen, S., Storms, G., & De Deyne, S. (2018). Predicting lexical norms: A comparison between a word association model and text-based word co-occurrence models. Journal of Cognition, 1(1): 45. [pdf]
Verheyen, S., Dewil, S., & Egré, P. (2018). Subjectivity in gradable adjectives: The case of tall and heavy. Mind & Language, 33, 460-479. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., & Egré, P. (2018). Typicality and graded membership in dimensional adjectives. Cognitive Science, 42, 2250-2286. [pdf] [data]
White, A., Storms, G., Malt, B. C., & Verheyen, S. (2018). Mind the generation gap: Differences between young and old in everyday lexical categories. Journal of Memory and Language, 98, 12-25. [pdf] [data]
Ruytenbeek, N., Verheyen, S., & Spector, B. (2017). Asymmetric inference towards the antonym: Experiments into the polarity and morphology of negated adjectives. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, 2(1): 92. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., Voorspoels, W., Longenecker, J., Weinberger, D., Elvevåg, B., & Storms, G. (2016). Invalid assumptions in clustering analyses of category fluency data: Reply to Sung, Gordon, & Schretlen (2015). Cortex, 75, 255-259. [pdf]
Verheyen, S., Voorspoels, W., Vanpaemel, W., & Storms, G. (2016). Caveats for the spatial arrangement method: Comment on Hout, Goldinger, and Ferguson (2013). Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, 145, 376-382. [pdf] [supplementary materials]
De Deyne, S., Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2015). The role of corpus size and syntax in deriving lexico-semantic representations for a wide range of concepts. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 68, 1643-1664. [pdf]
De Witte, E., Satoer, D., Robert, E., Colle, H., Verheyen, S., Visch-Brink, E., & Mariën, P. (2015). The Dutch Linguistic Intraoperative Protocol: A valid linguistic approach to awake brain surgery. Brain and Language, 140, 35-48. [pdf]
Verheyen, S., Voorspoels, W., & Storms, G. (2015). Inferring choice criteria with mixture IRT models: A demonstration using ad hoc and goal-derived categories. Judgment and Decision Making, 10, 97-114. [pdf] [data]
De Deyne, S., Voorspoels, W., Verheyen, S., Navarro, D., & Storms, G. (2014). Accounting for graded structure in adjective categories with valence-based opposition relationships. Language and Cognitive Processes, 29, 568-583. [pdf]
Voorspoels, W., Storms, G., Longenecker, J., Verheyen, S., Weinberger, D., & Elvevåg, B. (2014). Deriving semantic structure from category fluency: Clustering techniques and their pitfalls. Cortex, 55, 130-147. [pdf]
White, A., Voorspoels, W., Storms, G., & Verheyen, S. (2014). Problems of reliability and validity with similarity derived from category fluency. Psychiatry Research, 220, 1125-1130. [pdf] [supplementary materials] [data]
Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2013). A mixture approach to vagueness and ambiguity. PLoS One, 8(5): e63507. [pdf] [data]
Heussen, D., Voorspoels, W., Verheyen, S., Storms, G., & Hampton, J. (2011). Raising argument strength using negative evidence: A constraint on models of induction. Memory & Cognition, 39, 1496-1507. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., De Deyne, S., Dry, M., & Storms, G. (2011). Uncovering contrast categories in categorization with a probabilistic threshold model. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 37, 1515-1531. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., Heussen, D., & Storms, G. (2011). On domain differences in categorization and context variety. Memory & Cognition, 39, 1290-1300. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., Stukken, L., De Deyne, S., Dry, M., & Storms, G. (2011). The generalized polymorphous concept account of graded structure in abstract categories. Memory & Cognition, 39, 1117-1132. [pdf] [data]
Vandekerckhove, J., Verheyen, S., & Tuerlinckx, F. (2010). A crossed random effects diffusion model for speeded semantic categorization decisions. Acta Psychologica, 133, 269-282. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., Hampton, J., & Storms, G. (2010). A probabilistic threshold model: Analyzing semantic categorization data with the Rasch model. Acta Psychologica, 135, 216-225. [pdf] [data]
De Deyne, S., Verheyen, S., Ameel, E., Vanpaemel, W., Dry, M. J., Voorspoels, W., & Storms, G. (2008). Exemplar by feature applicability matrices and other Dutch normative data for semantic concepts. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 1030-1048. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., Ameel, E., & Storms, G. (2007). Determining the dimensionality in spatial representations of semantic concepts. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 427-438. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2007). Modeling individual differences in learning hierarchically organised categories. Psychologica Belgica, 47, 219-234. [pdf] [data]
Publications in Books
Egré, P., Ripley, D., & Verheyen, S. (2019). The Sorites paradox in psychology. In E. Zardini, & S. Oms (Eds.), The Sorites Paradox (pp. 263 - 286). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. [pdf]
Van Gorp, K., & Verheyen, S. (2018). Language awareness in action: Primary school students' language practices while performing a multilingual task. In C. Hélot, C. Frijns, K. Van Gorp, & S. Sierens (Eds.), Language awareness in multilingual classrooms in Europe: From theory to practice (Contributions to the Sociology of Language 109) (pp. 235-273). Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton. [pdf] [data]
Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2018). Education as a source of vagueness in criteria and degree. In E. Castroviejo, L. McNally, & G. W. Sassoon (Eds.), The Semantics of Gradability, Vagueness, and Scale Structure: Experimental Perspectives (pp. 149 - 167). Berlin, Germany: Springer. [pdf] [data]
De Deyne, S., Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2016). Structure and organization of the mental lexicon: A network approach derived from syntactic dependency relations and word associations. In A. Mehler, A. Lücking, S. Banish, P. Blanchard, & B. Frank-Job (Eds.), Towards a theoretical framework for analyzing complex linguistic networks (pp. 47-79). Berlin, Germany: Springer. [pdf]
Conference Proceedings
Richie, R., & Verheyen, S. (2020). Using cross-validation to determine dimensionality in multidimensional scaling. In T. C. Stewart (Ed.), Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling (pp. 214-215). University Park, PA: Applied Cognitive Science Lab, Penn State. [pdf]
Verheyen, S., & Van Gorp, K. (2018). Multilingual tasks can induce conflicted emotions about one's home language. In M. Simons, & T. F. H. Smits (Eds.), Language Education and Emotions. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Language Education and Testing (pp. 65-72). Antwerp, Belgium: University of Antwerp. [pdf]
Smirnow, S., Maes, C., Luyten, L., & Verheyen, S. (2017). Assessment in a globalised economy: A task-based approach to assess the proficiency of Dutch in specific occupational domains. In E. G.Eugenio (Ed.), Proceedings of the ALTE 6th International Conference (pp. 26-31). Cambridge, UK: Association of Language Testers in Europe. [pdf]
White, A., Storms, G., Malt, B. C., & Verheyen, S. (2016). Between versus within-language differences in linguistic categorization. In J. Trueswell, A. Papafragou, D. Grodner, & D. Mirman, (Eds.), Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1955-1960). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. [pdf]
De Deyne, S., Verheyen, S., Perfors, A., & Navarro, D. (2015). Evidence for widespread thematic structure in the mental lexicon. In R. Dale, C. Jennings, P. Maglio, T. Matlock, D. Noelle, A. Warlaumont, & J. Yoshimi, (Eds.), Proceedings of the 37th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 518-523). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. [pdf] [supplemental materials]
Vankrunkelsven, H., Verheyen, S., De Deyne, S., & Storms, G. (2015). Predicting lexical norms using a word association corpus. In R. Dale, C. Jennings, P. Maglio, T. Matlock, D. Noelle, A. Warlaumont, & J. Yoshimi, (Eds.), Proceedings of the 37th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 2463-2468). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. [pdf]
Zee, J., Storms, G., & Verheyen, S. (2014). Violations of the local independence assumption in categorization. In P. Bello, M. Guarini, M. McShane, & B. Scassellati, (Eds.), Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1670-1675). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. [pdf]
Stukken, L., Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2013). Representation and criterion differences between men and women in semantic categorization. In M. Knauff, M. Pauen, N. Sebanz, & I. Wachsmuth (Eds.), Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 3474-3479). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. [pdf]
De Deyne, S., Voorspoels, W., Verheyen, S., Navarro, D., & Storms, G. (2011). Graded structure in adjective categories. In L. Carlson, C. Hölscher, & T. Shipley (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 249-254). Auxtin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. [pdf]
Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2012). Qualitative and quantitative individual differences in semantic categorization. In N. Rußwinkel, U. Drewitz, & H. van Rijn (Eds.), Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling (pp. 251-252). Berlin, Germany: Universitaetsverlag der TU Berlin. [pdf]
Verheyen, S., Ameel, E., & Storms, G. (2011). Overextensions that extend into adolescence: Insights from a threshold model of categorization. In L. Carlson, C. Hölscher, & T. Shipley (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 2000-2005). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. [pdf]
Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2011). Does a single dimension govern categorization in natural language categories?. In A. Karmiloff-Smith, B. Kokinov, & N. Nersessian (Eds.), Proceedings of the European Conference on Cognitive Science. Sofia, Bulgaria: New Bulgarian University Press. [pdf]
Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2011). Towards a categorization-based model of similarity. In L. Carlson, C. Hölscher, & T. Shipley (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 614-619). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. [pdf]
Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2011). Unidimensionality of category intension and extension. In A. Karmiloff-Smith, B. Kokinov, & N. Nersessian (Eds.), Proceedings of the European Conference on Cognitive Science. Sofia, Bulgaria: New Bulgarian University Press. [pdf]
Stukken, L., Verheyen, S., Dry, M., & Storms, G. (2009). A new investigation of the nature of abstract categories. In N. A. Taatgen, & H. van Rijn, (Eds.), Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 2438-2443). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. [pdf]
Verheyen, S., Ameel, E., Rogers, T., & Storms, G. (2008). Learning categories at different levels of abstraction. In B. C. Love, K. McRae, & V. M. Sloutsky (Eds.), Proceedings of the 30th annual conference of the cognitive science society (pp. 751-756). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. [pdf]
Publications in National Journals
Van Gorp, K., & Verheyen, S. (2018, September/October/November). Meertaligheid benutten in je klas, dat kan zo! De impact van een meertalige taak op de klaspraktijk in de basisschool. [Using multilingualism to your advantage! The impact of multilingual tasks on class practices in primary school.] Schokla: School- en klaspraktijk, 60, 39-48. [pdf]
Verheyen, S., & Storms, G. (2008, January/February/March). Learning categories at different hierarchical levels. Psychologos, 23, 3-3.
Translated Books (as Editor)
Council of Europe (2017). Handleiding voor de ontwikkeling van taaltoetsen. [Manual for language test development and examining.] Leuven, Belgium: Certificaat Nederlands als Vreemde Taal. [pdf]