lecture 8 - knowledge and problem solving Flashcards
why are categories useful?
provides wealth of info, can identify special characteristics of a particular item, we can compare them to other categories - you don’t need to know what a liger is to know its a big cat
what makes a category?
theres no strict definition criteria - the items resemble one another in many ways (family resemblance)
what is a prototype?
an avg representation of the ‘typical’ member of a category
what is the prototype approach?
Characteristic features that describe what members of that concept are like. An average of category members encountered in the past.
what does high prototypicality mean?
a category member closely resembles the category prototype e.g. a bird = a robin
what does low prototypicality mean?
a category member doesnt closely resemble the category prototype e.g. bird = a penguin
what is the relationship between prototypicality and family resemblance?
strong, positive - items in a category have a large amount of overlap have a high family resemblance
what is the exemplar approach?
A concept is represented by multiple examples, The more similar a specific exemplar is to a known category member, the faster it will be categorized (family resemblance effect).
what is the prototype approach?
Fast and efficient,
Facilitates categorization,
Easily deals with variable categories.
e.g. abstract concept of what makes a dog - never encountered one but it is easily recognised
what is the exemplar approach?
Explains typicality effect.
Easily takes into account atypical cases.
Easily deals with variable categories.
what is a semantic network?
Concepts are arranged in networks that represent the way concepts are organized in the mind
what is involved in a semantic network?
hierarchical model, node (category/concept), concepts are linked, bridges to computer models of knowledge
what are semantic categories in the brain?
Different brain areas are specialized to process information about different categories
what is creativity?
Innovative thinking
Novel ideas.
New connections between existing ideas.
divergent thinking - open-ended - large num of solutions
how do we test creativity?
Guilford’s alternate uses test - given an object associated with a certain use and task is to come up with as many possible uses in a given time
