chap 9 part 2 Flashcards
“pointers to knowledge”
provide general info & identify general information
define: concept
mental representation of a class of things.ex: fruit
prototype approach
high and low;
high prototypicality: very close to prototype
low prototypicality: not close to the prototype
why categories are useful
they help to understand individual cases
definitional approach to categorization
- determine category membership based on whether the object meets the definition of the category
- it does not work well, because its too specific and rigid. ex : definition of a chair- has four legs and seats one. that excludes chairs like sofas and rocking chairs
attribute
a predicate/property that can be true or false of something. ex: a property of fruit, like seeds
Orientation of map
Judgments are easier when your mental map and the physical map have matching orientations.
Landmark effect
General tendency to provide shorter estimates when traveling to a landmark, rather than a non-landmark. Possible reasons why: Landmarks tend to be more spread out and seemingly cover more area/Familiarity effect greater for landmarks. Example: Distance from Detroit to Toledo vs. Toledo to Detroit.
Rotation heuristic
We remember a tilted geographic structure as being either more vertical or more horizontal than it really is. Tversky (1981) - Mental maps for San Francisco Bay area, 69% of students showed evidence of this. Example: California/Nevada;U.S./Canada borders
Semantic categories
Semantic factors influence distance estimates for specific locations. Hirtle and Mascolo (1986)
alignment heuristic
We remember geographic structures as being arranged in a straighter line than they really are. Tversky (1981) - Example: Rome vs. Philadelphia
Spatial cognition
Our thoughts about spatial issues, including cognitive maps and how we remember the world we navigate
Cognitive map
Mental representation of neighborhoods, cities, and countries. Based on real-world settings and has ecological validity.
Survey knowledge
Involves estimated distances between landmarks, much as they might appear on survey maps - it may be represented imaginally or propositionally.
Intervening Cities
Thorndyke (1981) - A larger number of these has a clear-cut effect on distance estimations between locations. “Cluttered” routes seem longer. In addition, roads with complex turns seem longer than straight roads.
