chapter 8 Flashcards
semantics
meaning of individual words
- does not specify how we acquired the information
3 semantic memory representations
1) encyclopedic information
2) lexical knowledge
3) conceptual knowledge
what is encyclopedic information (semantic memory representations)
example
- factual info about world
- ex: everest is the worlds tallest mountain
what is lexical knowledge?
(semantic memory representations)
- example
know a lot of words and stuff about them
ex: the word “short” is related to the word “tall”
what is conceptual knowledge?
(semantic memory representations)
example
understanding of categories of objects
ex: a square has 4 equal sides and 4 right angles
2 components of semantic memory
1) category
2) concept
what is a category?
set of objects that belong together
considered to be at least partly equivalent
what is a concept?
mental representation of a category
what is situated cognition approach
make use of information in the immediate environment or situation
- knowledge often depends on the context that surrounds us
3 levels of categorization
basic
subordinate
superordinate
what is the basic level of categorization
example
- learned first
- used most often
- fastest to identify
- moderately specific
- not a prototype
- more likely to produce semantic priming effect
ex: apple, chair, dog, screwdriver
what is the superordinate level of categorization
- most general, higher level categories
ex: fruit, furniture, animal, tool
what is the subordinate level of categorization
example
- more specific than basic (lower level)
- experts tend to use this level
ex: macintosh apple, desk chair, collie, Phillips screwdriver
PET scans looking at semantic memory
examined whether different regions of the brain tend to process different category levels
- brain distinguishes between different levels of categorization (think differently)
what happened during the study by Kosslyn et al.
PET study
- shown pics, had to indicate what level of categorization
what areas of brain were activated shown in PET study for differently levels of categorization (Kosslyn et al)
basic= lateral and medial view of 2 hemispheres
superordinate= prefrontal cortex and some temporal region (process language and associative memory)
subordinate= parietal areas (allocation of attention, spatial orienting- drive more specific search)
example of expertise
- use what level of categorization?
ex: birding
- use subordinate level
how do we decide what something is
analyze shape, colour, texture
2 models of categorization
prototype model
exemplar approach
what is a prototype
item that is best, most typical example of a category, ideal representation of the category
- can change as gain knowledge
what is the prototype model
- mental abstraction
- categorize by comparing to prototype
- categories have graded structure
- typicality effect
- priming task
- prototypes have high family resemblance
Prototype model
- what is mental abstraction?
example
- based on experiences
- not necessarily anything encountered/experiences/seen/lived in in your life, abstraction based on different experiences
ex: draw house- close to same house drawn by everyone
Prototype model
- categorize by comparing to prototype
- decide whether particular item belongs to a category by comparing this item with prototype
Prototype model
- categories have graded structure
begins with most representative/prototypical members, and continues on through non-prototypical members
- all members of a category are not really equal
what is typicality effect
(Prototype model)
example
faster to recognize/respond/more likely to produce, the closer they are to prototype (and more accurate)
- members of a category differ in prototypicality (degree to which they are representative of category)
example: judging whether items belong to category “bird”, people judge robin more quickly than penguin
Priming task (Prototype model)
example
- priming for typical members
- priming inhibited the judgements for non-prototypical colours
example
- picture colour “red”
- how quicker are you to decide the colour when proceeded by XXX VS word “red” (get priming and faster with word “red”)
- priming only happens of colour patch is close to prototype of red
what is semantic priming effect?
people respond faster to an item if it was proceeded by an item with similar meaning
- facilitates peoples responses to prototypes significantly more than it facilitates their responses to non-prototypes
Prototype model
- prototypes have high family resemblance
- no single attribute is shared by all examples of concept, each example has at least one attribute in common with some other example of the concept
(features overlap)
what is the exemplar approach?
example
compare to examples, not to abstraction
- categorize and classify by thinking of examples we have encountered (common/uncommon)
- collection of numerous members of category
ex: platypus (like duck and beaver)
problem with exemplar approach
our semantic memory would quickly become overpopulated with numerous exemplars for numerous categories (more suitable when thinking of category with relatively few members)
part of brain storing prototypes and exemplars
prototypes= LH
exemplars= RH
network models of semantic memory
what is the emphasis
- interconnections among related items
emphasis
- organization of knowledge/understanding
- the meaning of a word depends on the concepts to which it is connected
3 parts to network models of semantic memory
1) spreading activation model
2) adaptive control of thought
3) parallel distributed processing
what is the spreading activation model
Collins and Lotus (study)
- strength represented by distances of lines (short/close= stronger connection)
- nodes (converging ideas/concepts)
- connections (nodes related through connections, unrelated concepts= no direct connections)
- when hear name of concept, the node representing that concept is activated, the activation expands/spreads from that node to other connected nodes
example of spreading activation model
say “apple”
- activate apple node
- spreading activation
- orange node activates
how is strength determined for spreading activation model
measures how closely related are concepts
- distance
- thickness
- number