Categories and Concepts
Priya is looking to purchase new furniture for her entire house. Which of the following would be categorized more efficiently through exemplar theory than prototype theory after Priya has browsed through several stores? A) A bizarre shaped, three-legged chair for her patio. B) A queen sized bed for her master bedroom. C) A rectangular kitchen table to accommodate her large kitchen. D) A black three-seat couch to compliment the colour of her living room walls.
A) A bizarre shaped, three-legged chair for her patio.
Which of the following statementsabout prototype theory is FALSE? A) According to prototype theory, you categorize new apples by comparing them to all the prototypes you have stored for the category �apple�. B) A prototype describes the ideal or average member of a category. C) A prototype describes an internal representation that can be compared to new stimuli in order to categorize them. D) Prototypes are heavily dependent upon the experiences of an individual.
A) According to prototype theory, you categorize new apples by comparing them to all the prototypes you have stored for the category �apple�.
Which of the following statements about categorization is true? A) An individual's prototypes often change across testing times and will likely be different from another person's prototype for a given category. B) Baboons are unable to perform above chance levels when given more abstract tasks such as whether two items belong to the same or different categories. C) Children are not able to generalize information learned about an object to its entire category until the age of 5. D) There is always high agreement between individuals about category membership for simple categories such as fruit.
A) An individual's prototypes often change across testing times and will likely be different from another person's prototype for a given category.
Psychologists have defined four basic functions of categorization. Which of the following statements DOES NOT describe one of these functions? A) Categorization makes us feel as though simple rules are always sufficient to group together similar objects. B) Categorization makes communication more efficient, as words can be used to represent entire categories. C) Categorization allows us to make sense of situations and respond appropriately to everyday events. D) Categorization allows us to compare current instances to previous ones in order to react optimally.
A) Categorization makes us feel as though simple rules are always sufficient to group together similar objects.
Which of the following outlines Dr. Brooks' findings with respect to rules in categorization? A) Rules for categories often lead to certain objects that belong to the category being omitted. B) Rules can be constructed and are required to define even simple categories, such as fruit and furniture. C) Categorization systems exist in animals, as observed through baboons placing objects into either food or non-food. D) Categorization is automatic and operates outside our awareness even for abstract and complex categories. View Feedback
A) Rules for categories often lead to certain objects that belong to the category being omitted.
Shannon is home from college and helping her younger brother, Mike, with his grade 1 biology homework. He needs to classify a list of words into living and nonliving things. Given their sibling rivalry, they decide to have a small competition. They must each classify the list as quickly as possible. If they perform as is predicted in the article "Don't know much Biology", who would complete this task more accurately? A) Shannon would be best regardless of the contents of the list. B) Mike would be best because children are natural-born taxonomists and greater interaction with the world only confuses this innate ability. C) Mike would win if the list contained more living than nonliving things. D) Shannon would be better than her brother only if she was currently taking a biology class.
A) Shannon would be best regardless of the contents of the list.
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 and other areas of the brain do not require visual input to form. 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) Milk and meat, along with other foods that are important for evolutionary survival, are categorized more efficiently than other objects. D) The connections between the visual cortex to other areas of the brain are developed following the learning of categorization in infants.
A) The connections between the visual cortex and other areas of the brain do not require visual input to form.
A study examining the diagnostic accuracy of dermatologists found which of the following results? A) Diagnostic accuracy was not affected by the recency or frequency of conditions the dermatologist had seen. B) Diagnostic accuracy was highest for conditions that the dermatologist had seen and diagnosed recently, supporting the exemplar theory. 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 the most throughout their career, supporting the prototype theory.
B) Diagnostic accuracy was highest for conditions that the dermatologist had seen and diagnosed recently, supporting the exemplar theory.
According to the web module, which of the following statements regarding categorization is correct? A) A function of categorization is to classify objects so that they may be better remembered. B) For classification of objects, we often fall victim to the illusion of the expert. C) Our ability to easily classify complex objects is referred to as the illusion of the expert. D) Rules can be used to define all objects, with complex objects needing complex rules.
B) For classification of objects, we often fall victim to the illusion of the expert.
Which of the following is evidence in favour of the exemplar theory exclusively? A) Category membership is unaffected by changes after short-term changes in experiences with category members. B) Ideal representations of categories change over time with changing experience of category members. C) Individuals from South America are faster to respond to rice as a staple meal item than to pasta. D) Simple but abstract categories are easily defined in terms of inclusion and exclusion criteria.
B) Ideal representations of categories change over time with changing experience of category members.
Which of the following would result in the least efficient categorization through exemplar theory? A) A netbook categorized as a computer. B) A grape categorized as a fruit. C) A rare snake categorized as poisonous. D) A housefly categorized as an insect.
C) A rare snake categorized as poisonous.
Which of the following statements regarding baboon categorization is correct? A) Baboons are able to learn to classify objects into simple categories but struggle on more abstract categories. B) The ability of baboons to classify objects provides evidence to support the prototype theory of classification. C) Baboons are able to learn to classify novel objects indicating that basic categorization exists in non-human animals. D) 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.
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) All objects, living or non-living, activate a specific region of the visual cortex dedicated to its processing. 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) Humans have an innate understanding of the difference between living organisms and non-living objects. D) Objects are designated a specific region of the visual cortex if the person has been exposed to that object very early in life.
C) Humans have an innate understanding of the difference between living organisms and non-living objects.
People who frequently perform a task believe that it is easy. What is this phenomenon called? A) Prototype Theory B) Categorization bias C) Illusion of the Expert D) Exemplar Theory
C) Illusion of the Expert
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) Should I avoid the berries or consume the berries? B) Should I ask a nature specialist whether there are berries or round, red-black, fruit growing along the trail? C) Is that a blackberry, raspberry, or a poisonous berry? D) Will the berries provide me with nutrition or cause me illness?
C) Is that a blackberry, raspberry, or a poisonous berry?
Which of the following statements is true regarding the bird study by Rips presented in the web module? A) 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. B) 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. C) 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. D) 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.
C) 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.
Which of the following best explains why the statement, 'the organization of the brain has to be understood in terms of our evolutionary history,' occurs in the article "Wired for Categorization"? A) The results discussed in the article indicate that the gradual process of learning to differentiate between, say, a bear and a tree, would have provided us with some survival benefit in the past. B) The results discussed in the article support the long-held notion that categorization processes exist solely as the result of learning to recognize the differences in visual stimuli. C) The results discussed in the article imply that the reason our brains are innately structured for categorization is because it would have been advantageous to our survival in the past. D) The results discussed in the article suggest that the visual cortex's organization around categories of knowledge is similar in sighted people and in individuals who were born blind.
C) The results discussed in the article imply that the reason our brains are innately structured for categorization is because it would have been advantageous to our survival in the past.
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) 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. C) 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. D) A recent exemplar affected categorization ability but, according to prototype theory, 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.
Which of the following is the best example of a limitation of the prototype theory of categorization? A) When categorizing new information, frequent category members are categorized more quickly than atypical ones. B) 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. C) Some evidence suggests that the prototype theory can only explain the categorization of relatively complex objects. D) It has been observed that our internal averaged representations of a category tend to be inconsistent over time.
D) It has been observed that our internal averaged representations of a category tend to be inconsistent over time.
Which of the following best exemplifies the prediction function of categorization? A) 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. B) 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. C) 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. 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.
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.
