Conceptual knowledge Flashcards
Knowledge that enables people to recognize objects and events and to make inferences about their properties.
conceptual knowledge
A mental representation of a class or individual. Also, the meaning of objects, events, and abstract ideas. An example of a concept would be the way a person mentally represents “cat” or “house.”
Concepts
Groups of objects that belong together because they belong to the same class of objects, such as “houses,” “furniture,” or “schools.”
Catagory
The process by which objects are placed in categories.
categorization
Categories have been called.
Pointers to knowledge
The idea that we can decide whether something is a member of a category by determining whether the object meets the definition of the category. See also Family resemblance.
definitional approach to categorization
Wittgenstein proposed the idea of ______ to deal with the problem that definitions often do not include all members of a category.
family resemblance
In considering the process of categorization, the idea that things in a particular category resemble each other in a number of ways. This approach can be contrasted with the definitional approach, which states that an object belongs to a category only when it meets a definite set of criteria.
family resemblance
The idea that we decide whether something is a member of a category by determining whether it is similar to a standard representation of the category, called a prototype.
prototype approach to categorization
A standard used in categorization that is formed by averaging the category members a person has encountered in the past.
prototype
Eleanor Rosch (1973) proposed that the ___prototype is based on an average of members of a category that are commonly experienced
“typical”
___ means that the category member does not closely resemble a typical member of the category.
Low typicality
___means that a category member closely resembles the category prototype
High typicality
A technique in which the participant is asked to indicate whether a particular sentence is true or false. For example, sentences like “An apple is a fruit” have been used in studies on categorization.
sentence verification technique
The ability to judge the truth or falsity of sentences involving high-prototypical members of a category more rapidly than sentences involving low-prototypical members of a category. See also Sentence verification technique.
typicality effect
____ occurs when presentation of one stimulus facilitates the response to another stimulus that usually follows closely in time
Priming
The approach to categorization in which members of a category are judged against exemplars—examples of members of the category that the person has encountered in the past.
exemplar approach to categorization
In categorization, members of a category that a person has experienced in the past.
Exemplars
Organization of categories in which larger, more general categories are divided into smaller, more specific categories. These smaller categories can, in turn, be divided into even more specific categories to create a number of levels.
hierarchical organization
What are the three levels of catagories distinguished by Rosch?
Global level, basic level, specific level
The most general category level distinguished by Rosch—for example, “furniture.”
superordinate level
The highest level in Rosch’s categorization scheme (e.g., “furniture” or “vehicles”). See also Basic level; Specific level.
global level
In Rosch’s categorization scheme, the level below the global (superordinate) level (e.g., “table” or “chair” for the superordinate category “furniture”). According to Rosch, the basic level is psychologically special because it is the level above which much information is lost and below which little is gained. See also Global level; Specific level.
Basic level
The most specific category level distinguished by Rosch—for example, “kitchen table.”
subordinate level
In Rosch’s categorization scheme, the level below the basic level (e.g., “kitchen table” for the basic category “table”). See also Basic level; Global level.
specific level
An approach to understanding how concepts are organized in the mind that proposes that concepts are arranged in networks.
semantic network approach
One of the first _______models was based on the pioneering work of Ross Quillian (1967, 1969), whose goal was to develop a computer model of human memory.
semantic network
As applied to knowledge representation, a model that consists of levels arranged so that more specific concepts, such as canary or salmon, are at the bottom and more general concepts, such as bird, fish, or animal, are at higher levels.
hierarchical model
A feature of some semantic network models in which properties of a category that are shared by many members of a category are stored at a higher-level node in the network. For example, the property “can fly” would be stored at the node for “bird” rather than at the node for “canary.”
cognitive economy
Activity that spreads out along any link in a semantic network that is connected to an activated node.
Spreading activation
