W8_lec3

Question 1

a) Describe a concept
b) describe a category
c) describe an exemplar

Answer 1

a) a mental representation of classes of things
b) a group of members that contain a similar characteristic
c) a member w/in that group

Question 2

an ‘animal’ is an example of a what?
a) concept
b) category
c) exemplar
d) prototype

Answer 2

a

Question 3

a ‘dog’ is an example of a what?
a) concept
b) category
c) exemplar
d) prototype

Answer 3

b

Question 4

a ‘poodle’ is an example of a what?
a) concept
b) category
c) exemplar
d) prototype

Answer 4

c

Question 5

What is the significance of concepts?

Answer 5

allows one to make accurate predictions about a novel item w/in a certain category

Question 6

Describe the classical view f concepts

Answer 6

the idea that concepts can be defined by the presence/absence of certain features allowing them to be put w/in certain categories

Question 7

When someone says that “properties A, B, and C are both necessary and sufficient for object X to be categorized as an instance of Y” what does this mean?

Answer 7

This means that the A, B, and C features are the minimum requirement to allow object X to be part of the Y category

Question 8

a) What is the main problem w/ the classical view?
b) Who noticed this fault?
c) Provide an example of where this problem may occur?

Answer 8

a) not all concepts have a simple definition and all concepts have exceptions
b) Wittgenstein
c) a game can be described as involving competition but not all games are competitive such as solitaire

Question 9

Describe the following
a) necessary conditions
b) sufficient conditions

Answer 9

a) a condition that must be fulfilled in order for a certain consequence to occur. however, this does not mean that the consequence will occur as other conditions may be needed.
b) a condition that guarantees that a certain consequence will occur. However, this does not mean that he is 100% needed for the consequence to occur

Question 10

Describe Rosch’s idea of Typicality

Answer 10

the idea that certain members of a category differ depending on how well they represent the defined category as a whole. As the more typical members will be more consistently categorized vs atypical members

Question 11

wrt the idea of typicality, what makes an item ‘typical’? Describe

Answer 11

family resemblance = how much an exemplar shares a certain attribute w/ the other exemplars w/in a category

Question 12

Describe induction

Answer 12

the ability to generalize/extend properties of some category members to others

Question 13

Which of the following would result in a person being more likely to believe that sparrows have sesamoid bones? Why?
a) Robins have sesamoid bones. Do sparrows have sesamoid bones?
b) Penguins have sesamoid bones. Do sparrows have sesamoid bones?

Answer 13

a) b/c sparrows are more readily associated (typical) to robins than to penguins (atypical)

Question 14

How does typicality associate w/ conditioned fear?

Answer 14

If one is conditioned to fear a certain animal they are also likely to show some fear of other typical animals. However, will not show fear when encountering an atypical animal

Question 15

describe a prototype

Answer 15

the averaged summation of all the exemplars experienced w/in a certain category

Question 16

Categorization is based on the similarity b/w a(n) ________ and a(n) ________ for a certain concept
a) concept, prototype
b) prototype, concept
c) concept, exemplar
d) exemplar, concept
e) exemplar, prototype

Answer 16

e

Question 17

Using this describes the following phases
a) training
b) test
c) results

Answer 17

a) the participants study different low and high distortions of the category (dot pattern)
b) the participants are shown new low and high distortions as well as the prototype
c) the participants were more accurate for the low vs the high distortions. Also the accuracy was the highest when shown the prototypes

Question 18

Describe the following
a) low distortions
b) high distortions

Answer 18

a) the exemplar is very similar to the prototype with only a slight variation
b) the exemplar is less similar to the prototype with a large variation

Question 19

describe the prototype theory

Answer 19

categorization of new exemplars are compared and contrasted to the prototype representation made by the user

Question 20

Describe the exemplar theory

Answer 20

each exemplar is experienced and stored w/in memory then it’s compared to newer exemplars as a means of updating/changing that category

Question 21

How does the following show evidence for the exemplar theory vs the prototype theory?

Answer 21

prototype theory = IIa, IIb, and IIc would be equally likely to be categorized as they all only 2 letters different from the prototype
examplar theory = IIb > IIc if only shown IIa as IIb is more similar to IIa compared to IIc.
Results = IIb>IIc

Question 22

What is the biggest take away wrt the exemplar theory?

Answer 22

What you are exposed to recently will bias what you are exposed to next

Question 23

There is evidence for both the exemplar and prototype theories. How is this possible?

Answer 23

some suggest that when learning a new category people initially use individual exemplars to guide their categorization decision, then switch to using prototype once enough experience has accumulated

Question 24

What is the problem w/ testing the exemplar or prototype theories using the dot pattern/FURIG-NOBAL test?

Answer 24

they test in such as way that isolates the encoding from prior knowledge however, this doesn’t reflect reality as we always have prior knowledge in most things that we expereince

Question 25

most new concepts that we learn are in some way associated w/ related ________ a) prototypes b) prior knowledge c) exemplars d) all of the above

Answer 25

b

Question 26

It was found that the first 'tuk' was more likely to be categorized as a tuk by group A, while the second tuk was more likely to be categorized as a tuk by goup B. Why?

Answer 26

Prior to showing these tuks the groups were shown a tuk that contained both a loop and cone as were told two different fxns. The fxn for group A required the use of the loop while the cone was more relevant for the fxn told to group B. Thus explaining the consistency difference b/w the two groups.

Question 27

What is the major role of prior knowledge wrt memory consolidation?

Answer 27

prior knowledge of an object can cause you to categorize that object differently

Question 28

What are the 3 levels for concept organization from general to specific

Answer 28

1. superordinate = general 2. basic 3. subordinate = specific

Question 29

All of the following are examples in the subordinate level of concept organization except a) golden retriever b) tabby c) rainbow trout d) dog e) monarch butterfly

Answer 29

d

Question 30

All of the following are examples in the superordinate level of concept organization except a) sheep b) mammal c) animal d) feline e) reptile

Answer 30

a

Question 31

All of the following are examples in the basic level of concept organization except a) sheep b) human c) poodle d) deer e) fish

Answer 31

c

Question 32

describe the following wrt taxonomic organization a) transitivity b) property inheritance

Answer 32

a) all the items on the lower levels of the taxonomic organization are members of the higher levels b) all lower-level categories inherit the properties associated w/ higher taxonomic levels

Question 33

if each node represented a level in the taxonomic organization of concepts how does it relate to the reaction time of recognition?

Answer 33

the more nodes that need to be traversed to related to two items the longer the rxn time of recognizing those items as being related

Question 34

All of the following statements relate to the basic level of categorization except a) preferred level of categorization b) balance b/w informativeness and distinctiveness c) first category learned as a child d) all of the above are true

Answer 34

d

Question 35

Which of the following would be considered part of the superordinate categorical level? a) cocker spaniel b) dog c) mammal d) none of the above

Answer 35

c

Question 36

Which of the following would be considered part of the basic categorical level? a) cocker spaniel b) dog c) mammal d) none of the above

Answer 36

b

Question 37

Which of the following would be considered part of the subordinate categorical level? a) cocker spaniel b) dog c) mammal d) none of the above

Answer 37

a

Question 38

Which of the following descriptions would have the fastest rxn time for matching a given image? why? a) subordinate b) basic c) superodinate d) a and c

Answer 38

b - b/c it is the basic level which is the preferred level of categorization

Question 39

What is this image demonstrating?

Answer 39

that as semantic dementia progresses the memory used to store specific categories followed by basic categories begins to diminish, while the general level remains

Question 40

Why does semantic dementia not seem to impact the general level of categorization much?

Answer 40

semantic dementia takes away the connections b/w items thus items that lack a lot of connections such as item on the specific level are more impacted unlike items on the generalized level which contains many connections

Question 41

Does expertise in a particular domain affect the preferred level of categorization?

Answer 41

yes, if you are an expert in a certain field you are likely to see more specific level items as higher tier items

Question 42

What does this graph show?

Answer 42

the top line shows a person that is not an expert in the topic given and thus has a faster rxn time with a basic item. Compared to the bottom line where they are an expert in the topic given resulting in both the specific and basic level items having equal rxn times

Question 43

How many experts and novices vary when categorizing certain items?

Answer 43

novices tend to sort the items based on superficial properties usually resulting in more them forming more groups while experts base the items on their meaning resulting in the formation of broader categories that can encompass more items