W3 Semantic Memory

Question 1

Semantic memory

Answer 1

General world knowledge including objects, people, concepts and words.

Question 2

What predicts what happens next based on regularities in the world?

Answer 2

Categories, schemata and scripts.

Question 3

Structure: 2 Options

Sematic Memory

Answer 3

Option 1 = Separately stored representations of information and their various relations, problem = not economical.
Option 2 = Storing representations and their relations in a more economical network.

Question 4

Hierarchical network model

Collins & Quilian’s, 1969

Answer 4

Access of concept representations through spreading activation between nodes via their connecting paths.

Limitation: does not account for semantic relatedness

Question 5

Semantic dementia

Answer 5

Syndrome of progressive deterioration in semantic memory, leading to the loss of knowledge about objects, people, concepts, and words.

Question 6

Categorization

Sematic Memory

Answer 6

Semantic memory enables us to form representations of categories (e.g. “dog”) based on regularities in the world, thereby allowing us to make predictions about what will happen next.

Question 7

Classical theory of categorization

Answer 7

Categories are defined by necessary and sufficient features. (e.g., separating off and even numbers because odd numbers cannot be divided evenly into groups of two.)

Question 8

Critcism of Classical theory

Answer 8

Family resemblance, central tendency, graded membership

Question 9

Family resemblance

Critisms of Classical Theory of Categorization

Answer 9

different members of a category can share different features. This doesn’t take into account of central tendency (average ideal).

Question 10

Central tendency

Critisms of Classical Theory of Categorization

Answer 10

categories exhibit an average ideal

Question 11

Graded membership

Critisms of Classical Theory of Categorization

Answer 11

Some members are more typical for a category than others.

Question 12

Typicality rating

Measuring Categorization

Answer 12

Rank the following chairs from being the best example to being the worst example of a chair: DV = average rank or rating.
= we grade things that don’t need to be, graded membership exists even for odd numbers. They are all odd but still have different ratings.

Question 13

Exemplar production

Measuring Categorization

Answer 13

Recall as many pieces of furniture as you can. (e.g., chair, desk, cupboard, bed, drawer, lamp.) DVs = frequency pf production and/or position in the production.

Question 14

Category membership varification

Measuring Categorization

Answer 14

(e.g., is this an exemplar of category? Furniture = carpet, bird = robin, fish = shark) DVs: accuracy of responses and/or reaction times.

Question 15

Prototype theory (categorization)

Modern Theories of Categorization

Answer 15

Categories are determined by a mental representation that is a weighted average of all category members. This prototype may or may not be an actual entity.

Common features = four legs, furry, tail. Distinctive features = barks, is omnivore.

This theory cannot explain how people can tell the sizes of categories (Many types of dogs, fewer types of elephants.). It also cannot explain How can people add new members to a category.

Question 16

Address issues with Prototype Theory

Exemplar Theory

Modern Theories of Categorization

Answer 16

Categories consist of separate representations of the physical features of experienced examples of the category. People can tell category sizes, people can add new members.
But it cannot explain = How can people retrieve all category members to define a category if retrieval is based on category membership (theoretical circularity)?

Question 17

Explanation based theory

Modern Theories of Categorization

Answer 17

Categories are based on common causal characteristics rather than physical features.
In previous accounts waterfowl = animals with webbed feet. Explanation-based account waterfowl = animals that swim.

Categories can be created ad hoc using world knowledge and explanations. (things with a distinctive smell, perfume, coffee)

Question 18

Barsalou’s 1983 experiments

Answer 18

Do ad hoc categories (e.g. things with a distinctive smell) have the same features as common categories (e.g. fruit)?

Family resemblance, Central tendency, Graded membership

High average agreement among participants regarding category membership, typicality of members, and production of exemplars.

Ad hoc categories are similar to common categories in that they exhibit family resemblance, central tendency, and graded membership.

Question 19

Schemata

Forming Concepts

Answer 19

Semantic memory also enables us to form schemata (e.g. “buying things”) that capture commonly encountered aspects of life. They can be thought of as explanation-based event categories.

Question 20

Scripts

Forming Concepts

Answer 20

Semantic memory also enables us to form scripts (e.g. “eat in a restaurant”) that capture the order of events for common aspects of life. They can be thought of as temporally ordered schemata.

Question 21

(Alba & Hashers, 1983)

Five primary schema processes

Schema Process

Answer 21

Encode = 1- selection, 2- Abstraction, 3- Intrepretation, 4- Integration

Retrieve = 5- Reconstruction

Question 22

Encode (1)

Selection

Five primary schema processes

Answer 22

of information central to a schema. Matching preference against supply, quality, and prices.

Bransford & Johnson’s (1972) experiments = schema activation benefits encoding of schema-relevant information

Question 23

Encode (2)

Abstraction

Five primary schema processes

Answer 23

Carmichael et al.’s (1932) experiments
The surface form of information (e.g. ambiguities in pictures, verbatim wording) is converted into a more abstract representation that captures the meaning but is schema-consistent.

Question 24

Encode (3)

Interpretation

Five primary schema processes

Answer 24

Johnson et al.’s (1973) experiment = Interpretation is used to “fill in the gaps” in a story with schema-consistent information.

Question 25

Encode (4)

Intergration

Five primary schema processes

Answer 25

Integration of information is used to form schema-consistent holistic representations.
Bransfored et al., 1972 experiments

Question 26

Retrieval

Reconstruction

Five primary schema processes

Bartlett’s (1932)
Brewer & Treyens (1981)

Answer 26

Bartlett’s (1932) experiments: British students studied the Native American tale The War of the Ghosts and were asked to recall it after days, weeks, months, or years. Details were reconstructed to be simplified and fit cultural schema. (canoes = boats, paddles = rowing, protagonist from “Egulac” = British warrior.)

Brewer & Treyens (1981) experiments: Participants were waiting in a graduate student office and later asked to recall everything they could remember about the room.
Participants recalled: Correctly = Chair, Desk, Poster, Skull. Incorrectly = Books, Filing cabinet.

Question 27

Prototype approach

Answer 27

idea that concepts are represented based on a typical (common) instance of that concept.

Question 28

Exemplar approach

Answer 28

: idea that concepts are represented based on exemplars of the category that one has experienced previously.

Question 29

Basic-level concept

Answer 29

level of concept hierarchy where common objects reside

Question 30

Believe in Yourself

Answer 30

You’ve got this!