Cognitive Psych Chapter 9

Which of the following examples illustrates how category typicality and judgments of category membership usually go together? - A painted, sugar-infused lemon that has been run over by a truck is still considered a lemon. - A perfect counterfeit bill that shares all the features of real money is rejected as payment. - A German shepherd is recognized to have all of the features typical of a dog and is quickly recognized as such. - Children accept the notion that a toaster can be changed into a coffeepot, but not the idea that a skunk can be changed into a raccoon.

A German shepherd is recognized to have all of the features typical of a dog and is quickly recognized as such. FEEDBACK: A German shepherd is actually a typical dog. The other three answers rely on other processes rather than on typicality.

In a standard sentence verification task, which of the following sentences would produce the slowest response time? - A peach is a fruit. - An apple is a fruit. - A robin is a bird. - A bat is a bird.

A bat is a bird. FEEDBACK: This would be the slowest because it would require the reader to trace a path from one basic category to a different superordinate category.

Which of the following facts fits least well with the claims of prototype theory? - Pictures of items similar to the prototype are identified as category members more quickly than pictures of items less similar to the prototype. - Items close to the prototype are the earliest (and most likely) to be mentioned in a production task. - When making up sentences about a category, people tend to create sentences that are most appropriate for the prototype of that category rather than for a more peripheral category member. - Even when an item is quite different from a category's prototype, it is very easy for people to decide whether it is inside or outside the boundaries of the category.

Even when an item is quite different from a category's prototype, it is very easy for people to decide whether it is inside or outside the boundaries of the category. FEEDBACK: The prototype defines the center of a category. If people can still decide if an item belongs to a category even when it is different from the prototype, then it suggests that they must be using some other process to make decisions about categories.

Which of the following is NOT true about Rosch's prototype theory of category membership? - Judgments about an item are made with reference to either the ideal or the average of that category. - In this theory, the boundaries of the category are specified, rather than the center of the category. - Items that more closely resemble the prototype are perceived to be "better" members of the category than other items. - The prototype for a certain category may vary from person to person.

In this theory, the boundaries of the category are specified, rather than the center of the category. FEEDBACK: Prototypes refer to the ideal item in a category, and thus define the center and not the borders of the category.

Which of the following claims is FALSE? - Reliance on prototypes is likely to emerge gradually as a person's experience with a category grows. - People are likely to rely strongly on exemplars early in their exposure to a particular category. - Once people begin to rely on prototypes, they no longer use exemplars for judging category membership. - With exposure to many instances of a particular category, it becomes more difficult to remember each particular instance, and this contributes to the emergence of a prototype.

Once people begin to rely on prototypes, they no longer use exemplars for judging category membership. FEEDBACK: Both prototypes and exemplars can be used.

Which of the following is NOT true of people's reasoning about natural kinds and artifacts? - People tend to assume more homogeneity when reasoning about natural kinds than when reasoning about artifacts. - The way people reason about natural kinds will be influenced by their level of expertise regarding those kinds. - People think that tables can be transformed into chairs but cats cannot be transformed into dogs. - People tend to assume that the properties of artifacts are less changeable than the properties of natural kinds.

People tend to assume that the properties of artifacts are less changeable than the properties of natural kinds. FEEDBACK: People are more likely to think that properties of natural kinds are more predictable and fixed than properties of artifacts.

Which of the following is true? - People only use prototypes when there are no clear definitions to fall back on. - People use prototypes even when other information is available to them. - People use exemplars rather than prototypes whenever possible. - Clearly defined category boundaries are necessary for deciding on category membership.

People use prototypes even when other information is available to them. FEEDBACK: People can use both prototypes and exemplars when making judgments.

Which of the following facts is explained equally well by prototype- and exemplar-based theories? - People are able to use information about a category's variability to help judge whether a novel object belongs to that category. - Some items appear to be more typical of a category than others. - When people change their perspective of a category (e.g., from American birds to Chinese birds), their idea of category membership changes. - People seem to show typicality effects for an unlimited number of categories, as demonstrated by the typical effects for completely ad hoc categories.

Some items appear to be more typical of a category than others. FEEDBACK: A typical item can be a particular exemplar (or set of similar exemplars) or a prototype (an item corresponding to the ideal).

__________ are more likely to be socially acquired and have more emotional connotations than __________. - Stereotypes; prototypes - Prototypes, stereotypes - Exemplars, propositions - Propositions; exemplars

Stereotypes; prototypes FEEDBACK: Stereotypes are like prototypes, but they are specific to groups of people and can have specific negative consequences.

What advantage do propositional networks have over other types of categorization models? - They can better accommodate atypical category members. - They match neural biology better. - They can better differentiate between different types of relationships. - Nodes are less complex.

They can better differentiate between different types of relationships. FEEDBACK: Propositional networks, made up of propositions rather than just concepts, can easily differentiate between different kinds of relationships between concepts.

Which of the following statements is FALSE? - When asked to describe an object, people are likely to choose the most general term for that object first. - People tend to remember more general terms ("pants") when they have heard very specific terms ("jeans"). - People tend to remember more specific terms ("dog") when they have heard very general terms ("animal"). - Basic-level terms can usually be referred to in English using a single word, whereas more specific terms often require two or three words.

When asked to describe an object, people are likely to choose the most general term for that object first. FEEDBACK: A basic-level term is used more often for describing items. This is neither too general nor too specific.

Many people think of a drum as the prototypical percussion instrument. Given this, which of the following results is most likely? - The statement, "Chimes are percussion instruments," will be verified more quickly than the statement, "Drums are percussion instruments." - When asked to create sentences about percussion instruments, participants frequently say things like, "I heard a percussion instrument chiming." - When people are asked which of two instruments is "more 'percussiony,'" they will choose the drum if it is an option. - When two types of instruments are within the category of percussion instruments, they will be treated equally.

When people are asked which of two instruments is "more 'percussiony,'" they will choose the drum if it is an option. FEEDBACK: The prototype is more often chosen as an item for a particular category.

Which of the following is most likely to cause you to draw an inference about a category of animal? - information about an atypical member of that category - information about a category of animal higher up in the food chain than the one you are considering - a theory about how a feature you have seen in one member of the category might be caused by a feature that all category members share - information about a characteristic shared by two members of the category that are quite similar to each other

a theory about how a feature you have seen in one member of the category might be caused by a feature that all category members share FEEDBACK: A theory that involves all members of a category is most likely to lead people to draw an inference.

When people are asked to rate how much "oddness" different odd numbers have, they - rate the numbers all the same, because there is a clearly defined category boundary for odd numbers. - rate some odd numbers as more "odd" than others, but these ratings are quite inconsistent from one participant to the next. - are consistent with each other in which odd numbers they consider more odd. - refuse to do the task because it does not make any sense.

are consistent with each other in which odd numbers they consider more odd. FEEDBACK: People tend to rate single-digit numbers as most odd and are very consistent at doing so.

According to Wittgenstein, we - have no real general concept for each category we know but instead learn each category member individually. - assess category membership probabilistically, by family resemblance. - can find rigid features that define a category but only after intensive study. - first encounter the prototypical member of a category and then compare all other potential members to it.

assess category membership probabilistically, by family resemblance. FEEDBACK: Wittgenstein was the first to propose that we use category membership in a probabilistic way.

Research shows that children are willing to make suggestions about how to turn a toaster into a coffee pot but deny the possibility of turning a skunk into a raccoon. This is evidence that - category membership and typicality ratings can diverge. - category membership depends on decisions about which features are essential to the category. - our use of categories is dictated by typicality. - children and adults have radically different understandings of categorization.

category membership depends on decisions about which features are essential to the category. FEEDBACK: Essential features are those that cannot be changed and hence items with these features cannot be changed.

Which of the following is NOT an attribute of the prototype theory? - fuzzy boundaries - graded membership - defining features - inequality of category members

defining features FEEDBACK: Prototype theory is based on an ideal member and does not rely on defining features.

The idea that we categorize objects based on their similarity to previously stored instances is known as - geometric theory. - prototype theory. - feature theory. - exemplar theory.

exemplar theory. FEEDBACK: Exemplars are particular instances in which we have encountered an item.

Which of the following provide(s) us with an understanding of cause and effect? - fuzzy boundaries - prototype theory - exemplar theory - explanatory theories

explanatory theories FEEDBACK: Explanatory theories are more complex, and hence allow us to think about cause and effect.

In a production task, the __________ category members that a person mentions are also the category members that produce the fastest reaction times in a sentence verification task. - first - last - loudest - slowest

first FEEDBACK: The responses that are mentioned first tend to be the basic-level category members in both production and the sentence verification task.

Compared with nonexperts, experts in a particular field will - pay less attention to the relationships between categories. - have more complex explanatory theories. - base categories solely on appearance. - rely particularly strongly on exemplars.

have more complex explanatory theories. FEEDBACK: Experts have acquired much experience and hence will have more explanatory theories in order to cover the large amount of information they have accumulated.

Connectionist, or parallel distributed processing (PDP), models are different from other categorization models in several ways. All the following are true of connectionist networks EXCEPT that - individual nodes are associated with meaning. - computers modeling these networks are more successful at problem solving than computers using other locally represented models. - processing is across the network rather than locally represented. - processing happens in parallel rather than serially.

individual nodes are associated with meaning. FEEDBACK: A key difference between PDP models and locally represented models is that individual nodes have meaning only in the latter.

All of the following are evidence that theories play an important role in conceptual knowledge EXCEPT that - people learn a new category more easily if the features are coherent. - people learn a new category more easily if they are given a theme to explain category membership. - once people have theories, they largely abandon the use of typicality heuristics. - people use theories to help them stretch concepts to encompass new, atypical examples.

once people have theories, they largely abandon the use of typicality heuristics. FEEDBACK: Heuristics are always present, regardless of experience and the use of theories.

All of the following are problems for the prototype and exemplar accounts of categorization EXCEPT that - participants know that the definition of an even number is absolute, but they still give even numbers different ratings of evenness. - an orange that has been flattened, painted with brown and red stripes, and covered with coconut flakes is still identified as an orange. - participants' ratings of membership in a novel category change with experience. - a counterfeit $20 bill can look identical to a real $20 bill but is not considered money.

participants' ratings of membership in a novel category change with experience. FEEDBACK: Both prototypes and exemplar theories would reflect change as more items are encountered through experience.

All of the following are true about explanatory theories EXCEPT that they - provide a crucial knowledge base we rely on to think about a particular category. - serve the same function as a scientist's theory, though they are less precise. - are only useful in providing a cause-and-effect understanding if they are accurate. - can increase the ease with which we can learn a new category.

re only useful in providing a cause-and-effect understanding if they are accurate. FEEDBACK: Explanatory theories can be inaccurate even though they make sense.