semantic memory

Question 1

why is it important to have our semantic LTM organized?

Answer 1

to retrieve any info from LTM we need to be able to “find” it

Question 2

one theory of how we organize semantic info in LTM is in:

Answer 2

conceptual hierarchies

Question 3

hierarchically levels (3):

Answer 3

1. superordinate category
2. basic-level category
3. subordinate category

Question 4

superordinate category:

Answer 4

at the top of a hierarchy that encompasses many smaller categories

Question 5

basic-level category:

Answer 5

intermediate category in the middle of a hierarchy

Question 6

subordinate category

Answer 6

a small category at the bottom of a hierarchy

Question 7

superordinate category has members that share:

Answer 7

few attributes

Question 8

basic-level category has members that not only share but also have

Answer 8

attributes that differ from those of items

Question 9

subordinate category has members that share:

Answer 9

many attributes with members of similar subordinate categories

Question 10

participants saw 4 hierarchies with 28 words each, the conditions were:

Answer 10

1. organized hierarchy of words
2. random hierarchy of words

Question 11

organized condition recalled around:

Answer 11

70 words after the first trial and all words after 3 trials

Question 12

random condition recalled around:

Answer 12

20 words after the first trial and around 70 words after 3 trials

Question 13

semantic network:

Answer 13

a theory proposing the semantic info is organized in LTM by linking concepts to related concepts

Question 14

semantic networks consist of nodes representing”

Answer 14

concepts joined together by pathways that link related concepts

Question 15

what the difference between the semantic network and hierarchal organizations?

Answer 15

semantic networks do not need to be top down organization, only that concepts relate

Question 16

hierarchal organizations are a type of:

Answer 16

semantic network

Question 17

how to test semantic organization: (3)

Answer 17

1. ask them directly
2. look at the order of their recall (clustering)
3. response time measurements, such as how quick they respond to a statement

Question 18

typicality effect:

Answer 18

finding that the more typical members of a category are classified more quickly than the less typical category

Question 19

spreading activation model:

Answer 19

accounts for response times by formulating assumptions about how activation spreads in a semantic network

Question 20

the spreading activation model can account for the:

Answer 20

typicality effect that the hierarchal model couldn’t

Question 21

when a concept is processed, activation spreads out along the paths of a network but its effectiveness:

Answer 21

decreased as it travels farther

Question 22

people in the Meyer study were ____ to responding to if the:

Answer 22

faster; strong of letters was a word if the response prior was related to it

Question 23

problem with spreading activation model:

Answer 23

it is not able to be falsified

Question 24

memory schema:

Answer 24

an organized cluster of knowledge about a object or event abstracted from pervious experience with the object or event

Question 25

true or false:

Answer 25

a schema is a semantic network

Question 26

aphasia:

Answer 26

loss of ability to understand of express speech caused by brain damage

Question 27

brocas aphasia:

Answer 27

a language disorder that comes from damage in the frontal lobe with an inability to properly use grammar