Chapter 3

Question 1

What are the different ways of looking at the meaning of words

Answer 1

• Connotation and Denotation
• Reference
• Semantic features
• Category Membership

Question 2

What are the different models of semantic organization

Answer 2

• Hierarchical network
• Spreading Activation
• Feature Comparison
• Connectionist

Question 3

What are denotative meanings

Answer 3

• Primary OBJECTIVE definitions of a word

Ex: Word baby —> means literal infant

Question 4

What are connotative meanings

Answer 4

• secondary SUBJECTIVE meanings of a word

Ex: Word baby —> means ur gf

Question 5

What are Semantic features

Answer 5

• Characteristic features
• Defining features

Question 6

What are the different catergory levels

Answer 6

1. Superordinate Categories
2. Basic Level Categories
3. Subordinate Categories

Question 7

What is Intension

Answer 7

When the referent has two different words to describe itself

When the sense of the word is based on our initial understanding of the world

Question 8

What is Extension

Answer 8

The referent
The thing being referred to

Question 9

What are the different types of Semantic Organization

Answer 9

• Hierarchical Network Model
• Spreading Activation Model
• Feature Comparison Model
• Connectionist Model

Question 10

What are nodes

Answer 10

Links to semantic features

Question 11

What are semantic features

Answer 11

smaller units of meaning

Question 12

how does a hierarchical network functions

Answer 12

Nodes are arranged in a hierarchy

• Superordinate concepts are at the top
• Basic levels in the middle
• Subordinate things at the bottom

Question 13

What effects take place in a Hierarchal network function

Answer 13

• distance effect
• category size effect
• cognitive economy

Question 14

What is distance size effect

Answer 14

the physical distance between the network’s concepts that influences the info retrieval time

Question 15

What is category size effect

Answer 15

How many features are under a Network’s category that influences info retrieval time

Question 16

What is cognitive economy

Answer 16

How the brain minimizes the redundancy and conserving cognitive resources when organizing semantic info in hierarchical networks

Question 17

Problems with the Hierarchal network

Answer 17

• strength of association –> tree and flower (unrelated but associated)
• Typicality –> Birds have liver and wings (but u remember wings first)
• Category size effect –> how the size of the category influences memory retrieval

Question 18

how does a spreading activation model work

Answer 18

Each concept is a node
(features and concepts are nodes, all is nodes)

No hierarchy

Question 19

What does spreading activation refer to

Answer 19

How when thinking of one thing, your mind instantaneously relates it to other topics

Question 20

Problems with spreading activation model

Answer 20

• Strength of association
• category size effects
• typicality effects
• priming effects

Question 21

What is the priming effect

Answer 21

similair to typicality, even though subjects aren’t even typical to one another,
Previous experience/constant exposure makes you associate the two concepts together (unique to you)

Question 22

How does a feature comparison model work

Answer 22

No hierarchy
each concept has 2 levels of features

• works like a venn diagram
• a concept can share a node and its shown visibly

Question 23

What are problems with the feature comparison model

Answer 23

• strength of association
• Typicality effect

Question 24

How does a connectionist model functions

Answer 24

No nodes for a reference

• Input units (combo of letters or sounds)
• Output units (semantic features)

Works in a pattern activation way
(like every word has a code of letters or sounds that when put together makes something)

Question 25

What are different affects that can occur under network models

Answer 25

• distance size effect
• typicality effects
• category size effect
• priming effect
• reverse category size effect