problem 4 - semantic memory Flashcards
what is a category?
A set of objects that can be treated as equivalent in some way
Most categories share more than just 1 property
- (eg. you know things about a Toyota car even if you only know other car brands, bc different cars have similar characteristics)
what is a concept?
Mental representation we form of categories
- Assume that ppl’s concepts correspond more or less closely to the actual category
- Allow us to be able to know what to do in new situations & when confronting new objects even if you’ve never experienced it before
- Allow you to extend what you have learned about a limited number of objects to a potentially infinite set of entities
nature of categories
Traditionally assumed that categories are well-defined = you can give a definition that specifies what is in & out of the category
- Provides the necessary features for category membership
- Those features must be jointly sufficient for membership
However, it has not been possible to find definitions for many familiar categories bcuz the world is messy & unclear
what are borderline category members?
not clearly in or clearly out of the category - deals with the fact that for categories there are no clear boundaries
what are fuzzy categories?
Have unclear boundaries that can shift over time
what is typicality (categories)
Even among items that clearly are in a category, some seem to be ‘better’ members than others
Ranging from the most typical (the prototype) to borderline members (not clearly in or out)
- items that are less & less similar to the prototype become less & less typical
sources of typicality (categories)
- The frequency with which we encounter the object
- Does have some effect, but is not the most imp variable - Family resemblance theory = items are likely to be typical if they:
- Have the features that are frequent in the category
- Do not have features frequent in other categories
what are category hierarchies?
More concrete categories are nested inside large, abstract categories
- Basic level of categorization
basic level of categorization
The neutral, preferred category for a given object, at an intermediate level of specificity
- Depends on people’s knowledge & interest in the category
Basic level categories are more differentiated: the category members are similar to one another, but they’re different from members of other categories
goldilocks effect (categories)
Category used for something not too small (eg. brown bear) and not too large (eg. animals) but just right (eg. bear)
what is psychological essentialism?
People tend to believe that some categories have an underlying property that is found only in that category & that causes its other features
what is essence (categories)
The intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, which determines its character
Many categories don’t actually have essences
signs of essentialism
- Objects are believed to be either in or out of the category (no in-between)
- Resistance to change of category membership or of properties connected to the essence
- For living things, the essences is passed on to offspring
category verification task
Used to determine how we access categorical knowledge
- Asked to verify deny simple statements (e.g. a penguin is a bird or a robin is a bird) as quickly as possible
- Speed is the most imp variable in these tasks - fact that p’s verify that a robin is a bird more quickly than a penguin = tells us smth about how knowledge is organized
feature verification task
Used to assess how the features of categories are stored & accessed
- Asked to verify or deny sentences like ‘a cat has pointy ears’ or ‘a cat has skin’
- Fact that p’s verify that cats have pointy ears faster than having skin = tells us smth about the proximity of these features to the concept ‘cat’
