Concepts and categorisation Flashcards
Why are concepts needed?
James (1890) - making sense in the world + acting in it to achieve our aims
Language = labels of concepts
What is in a concept?
What makes something a member of a category.
Necessary conditions = needs to be together sufficient for being a bird
What is the classical view
Developed by philosophers
There are 2 (equivalent) ways of turning this idea = psychological theory of how concepts are stored + used
FEATURE THEORIES = we store the sets of conditions as lists of features E.g. Smith, Shoben, and Rips 1974
NETWORK THEORIES = we store concepts in networks with IS and HAS links (BIRD is ANIMAL; BIRD has FEATHERS)
* E.g. Collins and Quillian, 1972
What do semantic network of concepts look like?
Developed for concepts referring to objects or living things
there’s hierachy
What does Eleanor Rosch say about typicality?
noted that features or network links are not all that matters
Typical members of categories are processed more easily than atypical members (robin vs ostrich as an example of a bird)
Led to the prototype theory
What is the prototype theory?
concepts are represented by PROTOTYPES
Category membership depends on which prototype a particular
thing is closest to = depends on a measure of closeness
An alternative idea = prototypes are not themselves represented,
only exemplars + clustering of exemplars determines centre of the space that a particular concept occupies
What are the problems of the prototype theory?
CONCEPTUAL COMBINATION
We don’t just use individual concepts, we can combine them.
AD HOC CONCEPTS (Barsalou, 1983) – concepts and their corresponding categories = together on the fly + not stored in
memory E.g. things to save in a house fire – although they are not stored in memory, they do show prototype effects
MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS (Armstrong, Gleitman, & Gleitman,
1983.e.g. odd number) – they do show prototypicality effects (7 is a
more prototypical odd number than 343239089), but they have clear analytical definitions (odd numbers are not divisible by 2) – they are not DEFINED by prototypes.
What is conceptual combination?
Conceptual combination = complex process: compare TIN + CAN =>
“tin can” + TIN + MINE = “tin mine”
Conceptual combination has been seen as a particular problem for prototype theory
What is the ‘theory’ theory
scientific concepts are defined by the role they play in
scientific theories, our everyday concepts are defined by their place in lay theories about the world and how it “works”.
”Theory” theory deals well w/ conceptual combination
for example, lay theories tell us that cans can be made of tin, but mines cannot (but they can be a source of tin)
What are basic level categories?
(Rosch et al., 1976)
* In a hierarchy, such as Braeburn – Apple – Fruit, concepts at one of the levels are easiest to deal with (on all sorts of measures)
* In this case Apple, with other concepts at this level being, e.g., Banana and Orange
At this (basic) level, features of one type of object = strong “correlational structure”, which is different from that of other types of object
* Apples are similar, but apples and bananas differ
- At the higher level, fruits are diverse
- So one piece of fruit is not necessarily very similar to another one
At the lower level, Braeburns are similar to Galas and Granny Smiths
* So, things in different categories resemble one another
What types of concept?
Docus on concepts associated with concrete nouns. There are two main types
* Natural kinds (people, animals, plants, natural objects)
* Artefacts (man made objects: table, building, etc.)
Less studied are abstract concepts, including scientific concepts (gravity, evolution, etc.) + social/societal concepts (family, law, government, etc.)
There are also concepts associated with verbs (events – “hit”, states) + adjectives (properties of nouns, “red”) + adverbs (properties of verbs, “suddenly”)
then some concepts help to link ideas (“and”, “because”, “before”)
How care abstract concepts understood?
understood via networks of (metaphorical) links to concrete concepts (Lakoff & Johnson’s, 1980, “Metaphors we live by”)
What does embodiment mean?
The traditional treatment of concepts = formal analysis
to understand many concepts you = know how people interact with the world “chair”
- Furthermore, the encoding of such concepts = common with our motor knowledge of how to interact with (“use”) chairs.
Evidence supporting embodiment and the motor complex
(Pulvermüller et al., 2005)
They applied TMS (Transcortical Magnetic Stimulation) to motor brain regions
Faster reactions to leg-related words (“kick”) with leg region stimulation and faster reactions to arm-related words (“pick”) with arm region stimulation
Language is not modular or abstract but an integrated part of the experience
What is the Action Compatibility Effect (ACE)
Glenberg and Kaschak (2002)
* Pushing a lever away from you to confirm that “You closed the drawer” = OK sentence
* Pulling a lever towards you to confirm that “You opened the drawer” is an OK sentence
- The action required to respond is compatible (in direction) w? the action described
Responses are quicker than with the opposite pairings (close/towards; open/away)
