Categories & Concepts
Which of the following statements is true regarding the bird study by Rips presented in the web module? A) Prototype theory suggests that the robin will be classified as a bird more quickly than the penguin because it is more similar to the average bird than the penguin. B) Exemplar theory suggests that the robin will be classified as a bird more quickly than the penguin because it more similar to the average bird than the penguin. C) Prototype theory suggests that it should take individuals longer to recognize a penguin than a robin because of the greater number of penguin exemplars held in the mind. D) Exemplar theory suggests that it should take individuals longer to recognize a penguin than a robin because of the greater number of penguin exemplars held in the mind.
CA: A MA: A Feedback: If individuals were utilizing prototype theory, it is possible that it would take longer to identify the penguin as a bird than the robin because our average or prototype bird is more similar to a robin than a penguin because of our vast experience with robin compared to penguins.
Recent evidence presented in the assigned journal reading has suggested that seeing a hammer and a dog activate two different regions of the visual cortex. Which of the following statements does this finding support? A) Humans have an innate understanding of the difference between living organisms and non-living objects. B) The human ability to understand the difference between living and non-living objects is a result of experience, which designates distinct cortical regions for these categories. C) All objects, living or non-living, activate a specific region of the visual cortex dedicated to its processing. D) Objects are designated a specific region of the visual cortex if the person has been exposed to that object very early in life.
CA: A MA: A Feedback: This specific response of the visual cortex is seen in individuals that have never previously been exposed to the object, suggesting it is an innate mechanism.
Which of the following statements is most correct regarding prototype theory? A) People are faster to say an object that is similar to their prototype belongs to a category than a novel object. B) Prototypes are always the objects within that category that a person has the most experience with. C) The prototype for a given category is often the same across cultures. D) An individual's prototype for a given category is often very stable across time.
CA: A MA: D Feedback: One of the criticisms of prototype theory is that if an individual is asked what the prototypical object for a given category is at different times, there is a good chance the person will respond differently.
What would most likely happen if you asked a person to draw their 'prototypical' bird every week for a month? A) Their drawing would likely be the same on these occasions, which would support prototype theory. B) Their drawing would likely be different on some occasions, which would contradict prototype theory. C) Their drawing would likely be the same on these occasions, which would contradict prototype theory. D) Their drawing would likely be different on some occasions, which would support prototype theory.
CA: B MA: B Feedback: As mentioned in the web module, such drawings are likely to change. This contradicts prototype theory because if we were using prototypes, we would expect them to remain relatively stable over time.
Which of the following outlines a major difference between prototype and exemplar theory? A) Prototype theory states that we remember every object we've encountered, whereas exemplar theory states that we remember the most recent objects we've encountered. B) Exemplar theory requires an unreasonably large amount of memory capacity, whereas prototype theory does not require a large memory capacity. C) Prototype theory makes comparisons to internal representations of objects in memory during categorization, whereas exemplar theory does not make comparisons to categorize objects. D) Prototype theory is best for categorization of complex and abstract objects, whereas exemplar theory is best for categorization of simple objects.
CA: B MA: B Feedback: Since exemplar theory states that we remember every object or situation we've ever been introduced to, it would require a large memory capacity. Prototype theory states that we compare objects or situations we encounter with our ideal average of that category, which does not require a large memory capacity.
In the article "Don't know much Biology", when biology professors were asked to categorize living and nonliving things it was found that: A) Professors were better than undergraduates when classifying natural non-living things but were equal at classifying colourful nonliving things. B) Professors were better at classification compared to undergraduates but still had a difficult time classifying plants compared to animals. C) Professors made almost no errors in their classification showing that practice and expertise highly influence our ability to classify. D) Professors were better than undergraduate students when classifying plants but were much worse when classifying moving nonliving things.
CA: B MA: B Feedback: While biology professors were not hugely better than undergraduates, they did still perform better and they also still had trouble classifying plants when compared to animals.
Dora encounters a tree that appears to have fruit growing from the branches while walking along a trail one day. Which of the following questions would Dora ask to use categorization to assist her in classification? A) Will the berries provide me with nutrition or cause me illness? B) Is that a blackberry, raspberry, or a poisonous berry? C) Should I ask a nature specialist whether there are berries or round, red-black, fruit growing along the trail? D) Should I avoid the berries or consume the berries?
CA: B MA: B Feedback:By asking this question, Dora is attempting to classify the fruit as a blackberry, raspberry, or poisonous berry. She is answering the question, "What is it?"
Which of the following outlines Dr. Brooks' findings with respect to rules in categorization? A) Categorization systems exist in animals, as observed through baboons placing objects into either food or non-food. B) Rules for categories often lead to certain objects that belong to the category being omitted. C) Rules can be constructed and are required to define even simple categories, such as fruit and furniture. D) Categorization is automatic and operates outside our awareness even for abstract and complex categories.
CA: B MA: C Feedback: Dr. Brooks suggested the limitation of rules was that it's difficult to outline simple rules for complex and abstract categories, such as fruit and furniture.
Which of the following best demonstrates illusion of the expert? A) A chess grandmaster claims that his opponent had "beginners luck" as he was defeated by a novice chess player. B) An English teacher becomes slightly frustrated as students in her class do not understand the difference between they're, their, and there. C) Riley does not understand why she is struggling with math, as her classmates seem to pick up on new concepts quickly. D) A goaltender on a varsity hockey team is shocked with the performance of one of the team's forward players, as he believes the position is an easy one to play.
CA: B MA: D Feedback: The Illusion of the Expert is the feeling that just because we are good at something, it seems easy. In this scenario, the goaltender has no experience as a forward, and is just assuming it's an easy position to play.
Which of the following, if true, would contradict the assumptions of prototype theory? Select the best answer A) Our rules for categories can constantly change. B) We can think of more than item that belongs to a category. C) Prototypes can change rapidly over time. D) We tend to think of the same item every time we are asked about a specific category
CA: C MA: A Feedback: This is not an observation that specifically speaks against prototype theory. Neither of the categorization theories learned can explain this phenomenon.
Which of the following statements regarding baboon categorization is correct? A) The ability of baboons to classify objects provides evidence to support the prototype theory of classification. B) The ability of baboons to classify objects provides evidence to support the exemplar theory of classification. C) Baboons are able to learn to classify novel objects indicating that basic categorization exists in non-human animals. D) Baboons are able to learn to classify objects into simple categories but struggle on more abstract categories.
CA: C MA: C Feedback: Baboons' ability to categorize novel objects indicates to researchers that categorization exists, to some extent, in non-human animals.
Which of the following best outlines the reason why Alfonso Caramazza suggests that it is important to understand the brain in terms of evolutionary context, as presented in the journal reading entitled "Wired for Categorization"? A) The connections between the visual cortex to other areas of the brain are developed following the learning of categorization in infants. B) Since dogs have a separate mental process of categorization than humans, it is important to understand each species brain in terms of their evolutionary ancestors. C) The connections between the visual cortex and other areas of the brain do not require visual input to form. D) Milk and meat, along with other foods that are important for evolutionary survival, are categorized more efficiently than other objects.
CA: C MA: C Feedback: The article states that connections between the visual cortex and other brain areas are innate, and that this is the reason for understanding the brain in terms of evolutionary context.
Which of the following best describes the main argument made in the article "Wired for Categorization"? A) The brain relies on the gradual process of learning to recognize the differences between visual stimuli in order to categorize them. B) Animate and inanimate objects are processed in the exact same way in the visual cortex. C) The brain's wiring for categorization is innate, and exists before the individual learns the visual differences between stimuli. D) Blind individuals are unable to categorize effectively because they lack the visual input that would shape their categorization processes.
CA: C MA: C Feedback: The processes for categorizing, for example, a dog versus a hammer, exist without you ever having seen a dog or a hammer before.
According to prototype theory, how is a novel object categorized? A) The novel object is compared to a collection of previous experiences. B) The novel object is only categorized if it is similar to an internal average. C) The novel object is compared to an internal average. D) The novel object is incorporated into an internal average.
CA: C MA: C Feedback: When a novel object is encountered, it is compared to an individual's prototype, or internal average.
Which of the following is true regarding the understanding of category membership in baboons? A) If trained, baboons are able to make both simple (e.g., "food" versus "non-food") and abstract (e.g., "same" versus "different") categorizations with 100% accuracy. B) By the human definition of "categorization", baboons are not able to classify objects. C) Baboons are able to categorize simple objects into abstract categories (e.g., "same" versus "different") only with extensive training. D) Baboons are able to categorize simple objects into simple categories (e.g., "food" versus "non-food"), but are unable to categorize simple objects into abstract categories (e.g., "same" versus "different"), regardless of training.
CA: C MA: C Feedback: With training, baboons are able to make more complex categorizations, at around 90% accuracy.
A study examining the diagnostic accuracy of dermatologists found which of the following results? A) Diagnostic accuracy was highest for conditions that the dermatologist had seen the most throughout their career, supporting the prototype theory. B) Diagnostic accuracy was not affected by the recency or frequency of conditions the dermatologist had seen. C) Diagnostic accuracy was highest for the most severe cases of skin conditions, supporting the prototype theory. D) Diagnostic accuracy was highest for conditions that the dermatologist had seen and diagnosed recently, supporting the exemplar theory.
CA: D MA: A Feedback: The study found that when dermatologists were asked to diagnose a series of conditions, and some of them were conditions that the dermatologist had seen two weeks earlier in the first half of the experiment, the accuracy was higher for these repeated conditions. This finding is in support of the exemplar theory.
According to the web module, which of the following statements regarding categorization is correct? A) Our ability to easily classify complex objects is referred to as the illusion of the expert. B) Rules can be used to define all objects, with complex objects needing complex rules. C) A function of categorization is to classify objects so that they may be better remembered. D) For classification of objects, we often fall victim to the illusion of the expert.
CA: D MA: B Feedback: Rules are often unable to explain the ease with which we categorize. Other theories (prototype and exemplar) provide evidence to suggest that there are other methods of categorization as well.
Which of the following is the best example of a limitation of the prototype theory of categorization? A) Some evidence suggests that the prototype theory can only explain the categorization of relatively complex objects. B) When categorizing new information, frequent category members are categorized more quickly than atypical ones. C) An experiment conducted by Rips (1973) found that the reaction time to respond that a penguin is a bird was longer than the reaction time to respond that a robin is a bird. D) It has been observed that our internal averaged representations of a category tend to be inconsistent over time.
CA: D MA: B Feedback: This is evidence that would lend support to the prototype theory of categorization.
According to the web module, what evidence is there to counter the prototype theory and why is it significant evidence? A) When asked to identify whether a robin and penguin were birds, subjects took longer to identify the robin as a bird compared to the penguin because of the dissimilarity between a robin and their internal prototype. B) When asked to identify whether a robin and penguin were birds, subjects took longer to identify the penguin as a bird compared to the robins because of the dissimilarity between a penguin and their internal prototype. C) A recent exemplar did not affect categorization ability because, according to prototype theory, it should have merely been incorporated into the prototype and left performance unaffected. D) A recent exemplar affected categorization ability but, according to prototype theory, should have merely been incorporated into the prototype and left performance unaffected.
CA: D MA: D Feedback: A study on physicians found that doctors that had been exposed to an exemplar 2 weeks earlier were 20% more accurate when diagnosing the same condition using a different exemplar. Had the doctors been using prototype theory, such a drastic difference in performance should not have been observed, as this one exemplar would not have drastically changed their internal average.
Which of the following best exemplifies the prediction function of categorization? A) Francis sees her parents talking in a joyous manner and realizes it's probably a good time for her to tell them she wants to dye her hair black. B) Lizzy went to a buffet-style dinner party with ethnic food she was unfamiliar with; by observing the smells and compositions of the items she was able to pick out what was vegetarian. C) Borat overhears a group of cognitive scientists talking about some concept he has never heard, but their use of it has allowed them to develop some new research ideas. D) Sara was about to leave for school without making her bed, but knowing how her mom reacted the last time that happened, she knew she'd just get even more mad and so made her bed.
CA: D MA: D Feedback: Sara was able to predict the outcome of a situation based on her previous experience with similar situations and her ability to categorize the current situation as similar enough to certain previous situations.
