Concepts & Categories

Question 1

Concept vs Category

Answer 1

Concept: Representation that organizes our experience

Category: Organizational structure that the concept is about

Question 2

Classical view of concepts
Problems?

Answer 2

Symbolic structures
Discrete and all-or-nothing
Form knowledge about category
Necessary and sufficient features needed to deduce category membership
- Every member of category is equally good member

Problems:
- Categories are transitive (direct), but this doesn’t always work
- Features don’t capture typicality effects

Question 3

Prototype theory
Superordinate, basic, subordinate levels

Answer 3

Prototype: Member of category that is the average of a category
Characteristic features (typically associated) and defining features (must apply to 100% of instances)

Superordinate: General (Animals)
Basic: More specific (Dogs) -> Learned first
Subordinate levels: Most specific (Poodles)

Question 4

Match-to-sample task
How many months old to match to category levels? (16 and 19 months)

Answer 4

16 months -> Can match basic-category items

19 months -> Match superordinate items

Question 5

How do different languages affect category boundaries?

Answer 5

Different category boundaries created
- Develops over time
- English infants can discriminate between category of tight fit vs loose fit even if this is a Korean linguistic category, but adults struggle with this (perceptual narrowing)

Question 6

Shape bias

Answer 6

Preference for same shape
- But not universal

Ex:
Solids show shape bias in English but not Japanese (more of material bias)
Non-solids have material bias in both
Complex objects have shape bias in both

Question 7

Perceptual similarity

Answer 7

A cue for structural similarity (but may not always go together)
- Ex: Same category label = Objects have same property

Question 8

Essentialism

Answer 8

Biological/natural kinds -> Inference is that they always stay the same no matter what

Artifacts -> Inference is that identity can be changed

Question 9

Knowledge of growth and healing

Answer 9

Growth:
- Made inferences about how baby animals and kettles look over time
- 3 years: Didn’t know if artifacts grew over time
- 5 years: Know that artifacts can’t grow

Healing:
- 3 years: Know that living things can heal/regrow, but artifacts can’t

Question 10

Generics

Answer 10

Generic statements have statistical properties that don’t always work
(Ex: You can say “birds fly” but not “books are paperbacks”)

• Perceived danger/distinctiveness magnifies effect for generics
• Belief about generic statement of prevalence % usually higher than acceptance of generic statement

Characterize concepts as timeless, universal and devoid of context
- Minimizes within-category variability
- Helpful for reasoning about new unseen category members (as exceptions), but prone to stereotyping

Question 11

Gender essentialism
Essentialist vs Interactionist view

Answer 11

Belief that bio properties stay the same applies to gender
- 4-8 year olds belief: Genders have stereotypical characteristics regardless of how they were raised (essentialist view)
- 9-10 year olds belief: Can sometimes grow up to have interests not matching stereotype (interactionist views)

Question 12

Essentialist vs Structural explanations

Answer 12

Essentialist: More internal explanations
“Zarpies paint colourful stripes on hair because they like rainbow hair”

Structural: More about context or structure of surrounding enviro
- Older children more prone to this
“Zarpies paint colourful stripes on hair so that the giants see them and don’t step on them”