Briefly describe Collins and Quillian's model of semantic memory:

Question 1

a) Briefly describe Collins and Quillian’s model of semantic memory:

Answer 1

A web-like structure that demonstrates how semantic memory is organized of interrelated concepts that are connected by properties that are based on meaning.

Question 2

b) What are the five basic assumptions of the model?

Answer 2

• Semantic memory is organized as a network of interrelated concepts (based on meaning.)
• Each concept is represented as a node
• Concepts are linked together by pathways
• Activation spreads to interconnected nodes
• Economy of representation, Activation of one concept partially activates semantically related concepts.

Question 3

c) Provide evidence supporting the model. (When we ask you to provide evidence supporting the model, we want you to describe some of the experiments that were done to demonstrate how the model functions.

Answer 3

Evaluation of the sentence: “A robin is an animal.”

Question 4

d) Why do typicality effects provide problems for the model and how have researchers modified the original ideas to accommodate typicality effects?

Answer 4

Recall the bird→robin and bird→ostrich example and how response times varied between these two experimental conditions.

Typicality effects reflect how a robin is a more “typical” bird than an ostrich.

When researchers realized that these effects were present, they dropped the economy of representation assumption of the model to accommodate for typicality effects.