unit 5

Question 1

what is meant by superordinate, basic, and subordinate levels of categorization?

Answer 1

superordinate: more general
basic: most commonly used, more specific
subordinate: most specific

Question 2

why is basic level of categorization most commonly used?

Answer 2

basic is most commonly used because it is the most informative and accessible

Question 3

what is bottom-up processing?

Answer 3

refers to info from the stimulus itself

Question 4

what is top-down processing?

Answer 4

refers to the influence of prior knowledge, expectations, and surroundings

Question 5

give an example of the effect of context on object/pattern recognition. how does this correlate to top-down processing?

Answer 5

recognizing a “B” as the number “13” in a sequence demonstrates context, this supports top-down processing as it has to do with prior knowledge and influences interpretation.

Question 6

what is parts-based approach?

Answer 6

feature analysis (parsing an object into its components parts)
- comparing this set of features to info about the objects structure stored in memory.

Question 7

what is image-based approach?

Answer 7

objects are recognized holistically, not the parts but the whole

Question 8

what are geons and how are they used?

Answer 8

features = “geons”- breaking down objects into features (basically building blocks)
*recognition-by-components theory
- helps recognize objects based on parts

Question 9

image-based research has shown what effect of rotating images or unusual viewpoints/orientations?

Answer 9

image-based studies show recognition difficulty with rotated or unusual views, or image-based recognition relies on viewpoint-specific memories.

Question 10

what is the face inversion effect

Answer 10

inverting an image is more disrupting for faces compared to other objects.

Question 11

what is the thatcher illusion?

Answer 11

inverted facial features look strange

Question 12

are faces encoded as wholes or as parts? provide evidence.

Answer 12

faces are encoded as wholes, not parts. evidence, such as the inversion effect, suggests faces are processed holistically

Question 13

are houses encoded as wholes or as parts?

Answer 13

both: tanaka & farah study: participants were equally good at recognizing parts and wholes for a house

Question 14

what is some evidence facial recognition is different from object recognition?

Answer 14

special mechanism view: some patients show intact object recognition without face recognition, and others vice versa
- suggests object recognition and face recognition are different

Question 15

how does expertise play a role in facial recogniton?

Answer 15

Expertise affects recognition in domains like dog breeds, similar to facial recognition, where familiarity increases recognition ease.

Question 16

what is prosopagnosia?

Answer 16

disorder in which a person has difficulty recognizing familiar faces

Question 17

what is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon?

Answer 17

when we are sure we know a piece of info but we are unable to recall it right now

Question 18

what is similarity-based theories?

Answer 18

categorization involves judging the similarity between a target object and some standard stored in LTM

Question 19

what is essentialist theories?

Answer 19

categorization is based on a person general idea/theory regarding the essence of a concept

Question 20

what is DV?

Answer 20

speed of responding (RT)
- helps reveal how closely linked are the various concepts/features; can model “semantic networks”

Question 21

what are the three similarity based theories of categorization?

Answer 21

1. classical view
2. prototype approach
3. exemplar approach

Question 22

explain the main features of the classical view. give an example.

Answer 22

classical view: items classified by features, membership based on defining features, which are necessary and sufficient
ex. bachelor, unmarried, male, adult

Question 23

what are some problems with the classical view?

Answer 23

fuzzy boundaries
graded structure- not all members of a category are created equal

Question 24

explain the main features of the prototype approach, give an example.

Answer 24

prototype approach: categories organized around set of characteristic features, quickly and easily accessed from memory.
ex. high family resemblance vs. low family resemblance

Question 25

what are some problems with the prototype approach?

Answer 25

• peoples sensitivity to intercorrelations among object properties
• context-dependence (what is “most typical” depends on context)

Question 26

explain the main features of the exemplar approach. give an example.

Answer 26

exemplar approach: no single prototype, many examples
ex. exemplar chosen depends on context

Question 27

what are some problems with the exemplar approach?

Answer 27

• evidence of abstracted representations
• cognitive economy

Question 28

what is meant by “graded structure” or “typicality effect”?

Answer 28

Reflects how some category members are more “typical” or central, impacting speed and accuracy in categorization.

Question 29

what is the essentialist theory?

Answer 29

categorization is based on a persons general idea (or theory) regarding the essence of the category

Question 30

evidence behind essentialist theories.

Answer 30

similarity judgements and categorization judgements can be independent of one another.