PSY 200 EXAM 3 MSU STUDY GUIDE
Conceptual knowledge - Answers -Knowledge that enables us to recognize objects and
events and to make inferences about their properties.
Concept - Answers -A mental representation of a particular type of thing.
-You answer to the question "what is a ..."
Category - Answers -Composed of all possible examples of a particular concept.
Categorization - Answers -The process by which things are placed into categories.
Theories of Categorization - Answers -Definitional approach
Prototype approach
Exemplar approach
Definitional approach - Answers -Determine category membership based on whether
the object meets the definition of the category.
Ex- A shape is considered a square if it has four equal, straight sides and four right
angles.
Doesn't work in every situation--> Not all tables have a flat top and four legs.
Prototype approach - Answers -Category membership determined by comparing an
object to a prototype that represents the category.
An average representation of a "typical" member of the category
Includes characteristic features that describe what members of that concept are like.
Works best for large categories i.e. birds, sandwiches.
High prototypicality - Answers -Category member closely resembles category
prototype.
Ex- Robin=bird
Low-prototypicality - Answers -Object doesn't closely resemble prototype.
Ex- Penguin=bird
Exemplar approach - Answers -Concept is represented by multiple examples rather
than a single prototype.
Examples are actual category members, not just abstract averages.
To categorize, compare new item to each stored example and check for summed
similarity.
Explains typicality and priming effect.
Works best with small categories i.e. presidents.
, Hierarchical Organization - Answers -Organization of categories in which larger, more
general categories are divided into smaller, more specific categories.
These smaller categories can be divided into even more specific categories to create a
number of levels.
Global level - Answers -Broadest level of organization
Ex- Vehicle, animal, furniture
Basic level - Answers -Middle level of organization.
This level is special because it is the "go to" when people are asked to say what
something is.
Ex- Car, dog, sofa
Specific level - Answers -Most specific level of organization.
Ex- Ford, Golden Retriever, booth
Semantic network model - Answers -Assumes concepts are arranged in networks that
represent the way concepts are organized in the mind.
Node= category/concept
Properties are attached to nodes.
Relationships among concepts are represented in links between nodes.
The number of nodes you traverse to move between concepts is a measure of the
distance in the network.
Cognitive economy - Answers -Shared properties are only stored in higher level nodes.
Exceptions - Answers -These are stored at lower nodes and are things that differentiate
something at a lower node from a higher node.
Inheritance - Answers -Lower-level items share properties of higher-level items.
Spreading activation - Answers -When a node is activated, activity spreads out along
all connected links.
Makes concepts primed and more easily accessed from memory.
Evidence for spreading activation - Answers -Meyer and Schvaneveldt used the Lexical
Decision Task where they had participants read stimuli and are asked as quickly as
possible whether the item is an english word or not.
Two words shown at once.
Connectionist approach - Answers -Suggested the semantic network is not correct.
Computer models for representing cognitive processes
Knowledge represented in the distributed activity of many units.
Weights of the connection determine how strongly an incoming signal will activate the
next unit.
Conceptual knowledge - Answers -Knowledge that enables us to recognize objects and
events and to make inferences about their properties.
Concept - Answers -A mental representation of a particular type of thing.
-You answer to the question "what is a ..."
Category - Answers -Composed of all possible examples of a particular concept.
Categorization - Answers -The process by which things are placed into categories.
Theories of Categorization - Answers -Definitional approach
Prototype approach
Exemplar approach
Definitional approach - Answers -Determine category membership based on whether
the object meets the definition of the category.
Ex- A shape is considered a square if it has four equal, straight sides and four right
angles.
Doesn't work in every situation--> Not all tables have a flat top and four legs.
Prototype approach - Answers -Category membership determined by comparing an
object to a prototype that represents the category.
An average representation of a "typical" member of the category
Includes characteristic features that describe what members of that concept are like.
Works best for large categories i.e. birds, sandwiches.
High prototypicality - Answers -Category member closely resembles category
prototype.
Ex- Robin=bird
Low-prototypicality - Answers -Object doesn't closely resemble prototype.
Ex- Penguin=bird
Exemplar approach - Answers -Concept is represented by multiple examples rather
than a single prototype.
Examples are actual category members, not just abstract averages.
To categorize, compare new item to each stored example and check for summed
similarity.
Explains typicality and priming effect.
Works best with small categories i.e. presidents.
, Hierarchical Organization - Answers -Organization of categories in which larger, more
general categories are divided into smaller, more specific categories.
These smaller categories can be divided into even more specific categories to create a
number of levels.
Global level - Answers -Broadest level of organization
Ex- Vehicle, animal, furniture
Basic level - Answers -Middle level of organization.
This level is special because it is the "go to" when people are asked to say what
something is.
Ex- Car, dog, sofa
Specific level - Answers -Most specific level of organization.
Ex- Ford, Golden Retriever, booth
Semantic network model - Answers -Assumes concepts are arranged in networks that
represent the way concepts are organized in the mind.
Node= category/concept
Properties are attached to nodes.
Relationships among concepts are represented in links between nodes.
The number of nodes you traverse to move between concepts is a measure of the
distance in the network.
Cognitive economy - Answers -Shared properties are only stored in higher level nodes.
Exceptions - Answers -These are stored at lower nodes and are things that differentiate
something at a lower node from a higher node.
Inheritance - Answers -Lower-level items share properties of higher-level items.
Spreading activation - Answers -When a node is activated, activity spreads out along
all connected links.
Makes concepts primed and more easily accessed from memory.
Evidence for spreading activation - Answers -Meyer and Schvaneveldt used the Lexical
Decision Task where they had participants read stimuli and are asked as quickly as
possible whether the item is an english word or not.
Two words shown at once.
Connectionist approach - Answers -Suggested the semantic network is not correct.
Computer models for representing cognitive processes
Knowledge represented in the distributed activity of many units.
Weights of the connection determine how strongly an incoming signal will activate the
next unit.
