Cognitive Psychology; Chapter 9 proctored Exam

Concept - ANSWERSMental representation that is used for variety of cognitive functions (memory, reasoning) Categorization - ANSWERSProcess by which things are placed into groups called categories ** essential for understanding the world Definitional Approach to Categorization - ANSWERSsomething is a member of a category based on it meeting the definition of the category. Does not work for natural/ human made objects. EX think chairs. There are different types of chairs Family Resemblance - ANSWERSthings in a particular category resemble one another in a number of ways. *standard representation of a category are similar. Prototype Approach to Categorization - ANSWERSmembership in a category is determined by comparing the object to a prototype that represent the category Prototype - ANSWERS"typical" member of a category. Based on AVERAGE representation of members of the category Prototypicality - ANSWERSvariations within categories representing difference High Prototypicality - ANSWERScategory member closely resembles the category prototype Low Prototypicality - ANSWERScategory member does not closely resemble typical member of category High Family Resemblance - ANSWERScharacteristics have a large amount of overlap with the characteristics of many other items in a category Sentence Verification Technique - ANSWERSProcedure to determine how rapidly people could answer questions about and objects category. Ex. yes or no. An apple is a fruit, a pomegranate is a fruit. *Faster responses when its higher prototypicality Typicality Effect - ANSWERSability to judge highly prototypical objects more rapidly Priming Effect - ANSWERSPrimer facilitates participants response to a stimulus if it contains some of the information needed to respond to the stimulus ** Colour green experiment Exemplar Approach to Categorization - ANSWERSinvolves determining whether an object is similar to a standard object using examples Exemplar - ANSWERSactual member of the category that a person has encountered in the past Hierarchical Organization - ANSWERSlarger and general categories are divided into smaller specific categories Rosch's Approach - ANSWERSBasic Level Categories: Global Level, Basic Level, Specific Level. Categorization Levels - ANSWERSGreater number of features provide more information about a category Knowledge affecting categorization - ANSWERSDifferent level of knowledge may affect categorization- bird identification. Experts vs Novices Semantic Network Approach - ANSWERSconcepts are arranged in networks Cognitive Economy - ANSWERSCollins and Quillian-- storing shared properties just once at a higher level; describes how concepts and properties are associated in the mind Spreading Activation - ANSWERSActivity that spreads out along any link that is connected to an activated node ** can influence priming Lexical Decision Task - ANSWERSParticipants read stimuli- task is to indicate as quickly as possible which is and isnt a word Criticism of Collins and Quillian Model - ANSWERSTheory doesnt explain typicality effect-- pigs are mammals vs pigs are animals. Too hard to explain Collins and Loftus Model - ANSWERSresulted networks where concepts that are more closely related are connected by shorter lines (shorter links= faster reaction times) ** STRUCTURE BASED ON EXPERIENCE. Too flexible and therefore hard to falsify Explanation of Semantic Network Theories - ANSWERSExplanation Power (Why result occured), Predictive Power (predicting future results), Falsifiability (reliable and valid results), Generation of Experiments (stimulates future research), Connectionist Approach - ANSWERS(Connectionism) creating computer models for representing concpets and properties based on the brain PDP - ANSWERSParallel Distributed Processing- propose that concepts are represented by activity that is distributed across a network Units - ANSWERSinspired by neurons in the brain. Connections transfer information between units that are roughly like axons in the brain. Some units activated by certain signals and others by other signals Input Units - ANSWERSUnits activated by stimuli from the environment Hidden Units - ANSWERSreceives signals from input units and sends them to output units Connection Weight - ANSWERSDetermines how signals sent from one unit either increase/decrease the activity in the next unit High connection weight - ANSWERSstrong tendency to excite the next unit Lower weights - ANSWERSless excitation Negative weights - ANSWERSdecreases excitation or inhibits activation of receiving units input units, connection weights - ANSWERSActivation of units depends on __________ and ____________ throughout the network Back propagation - ANSWERSprocess by which error signals are sent back to the hidden and representation units to provide information about how much the connection weights should be changed so that correct property units are activated Graceful Degradation - ANSWERSdisruption of performance occurs only gradually as part of system are damaged Fusiform Face Area - ANSWERSresponds to faces Parahippocampal Place Area - ANSWERSresponds to houses, rooms and places inferotemporal cortex - ANSWERSresponds to forms