Lecture 7 Concepts And Categories

Question 1

In what ways can features vary?

Answer 1

Salience - if it attracts our attention

EG for a bird, metabolism

Question 2

What is an example of an integral dimension and what is an example of a separable dimension?

Answer 2

Integral - brightness

Seperable - orientation

Question 3

What are benefits of categorisation?

Answer 3

• Reduce complexity of the environment
• Enables us to relate to classes of objects and events
• provides a means of identification
• provides basis for deciding appropriate action
• allows for generalisation (can be bad)

Question 4

What did integrality vs seperanility experiment show?

Answer 4

Used stimuli that varied in saturation and brightness, and a set that varied in saturation and orientation

Integral dimension RT slowed when had to filter out a dimension bc interference happened.

Question 5

Example of how forming categories reduces complexity of environment?

Answer 5

In every language, people only have names for a few colours when in reality there are SO MANY(7 million)

SIMPLIFIES the world of colour

Question 6

The 3 levels of organising objects and events?

Answer 6

Superordinate - fruit - people tended to also put functional terms under this - eg makes music
basic - Apple - people tended to put adjectives and nouns under this - eg wooden
Subordinate - pink lady - people tended to tuck adjectives under this

Question 7

How is basic hierarchical level more primary than others?

Answer 7

People faster at naming categories at basic levels

2 year olds used more words in basic level

You tend to think of basic level category when you first label something, but context also comes into play

Question 8

Example of how forming categories helps deciding what is appropriate action?

Answer 8

Can be life or death

Eg mouse that has been recently inseminated will sniff urine near here

If it’s from an unfamiliar male, she’ll stop the pregnancy

Question 9

What is induction?

Answer 9

It’s generalising from the PARTICULAR to the general.

Generalisation is greater for more TYPICAL members, and SMALLER categories, and when the premise is more variable

Eg

All horses have tricketts disease
All cows
All lions
All mice

—-> all mammals ???

Question 10

things that affect generalisation?

Answer 10

Typicality of the premise
Typicality of generalisation
Category size
Category variability

Question 11

Classical view of concepts?

Answer 11

Concepts are mentally represented as definitions which provide the necessary and sufficient conditions for category membership

Either in or out, no in between a

Question 12

Negative of classical view of concepts?

Answer 12

Reduces cognitive complexity because they reduce the number of things we have to remember

Question 13

Types of rules we can have in classical view of concepts?

Answer 13

Unidimensional rule - one dimension only

Logical connectives - IF, NOT, AND, OR

Boundaries indicating relationships - greater, less than

Question 14

Prototype theory?

Answer 14

Categories are represented by the average or best category member. Decisions are made by generalising from that best member based on similarity to the prototype

Can imagine a mental map and kind of compare which one is closest to which prototype

Question 15

Advantages of prototype theory?

Answer 15

Reduces cognitive complexity because they reduce the number of things we have to remember.

Also allows for generalisation

Question 16

Exemplar theory

Answer 16

Assumes that we remember everything, no prototype.

Compare the new thing to ALL of the members of the category

Add hot the distances and make the decision from the SUM similarity

Question 17

Advantages of exemplar theory?

Answer 17

Does allow for generalisation based on comparing similarity

Doesn’t seem to reduce cog complexity

Takes into account that memory fades over time, so we just stop comparing new things to them

Can use selective attention - accentuates diffs on attended dimensions and reduces diffs on unattended dimensions.

So reduces cognitive complexity if you allow for selective attention and memory

Question 18

Three theories of categorisation?

Answer 18

Rules - classical view of concepts
Prototypes
Exemplars