PSY-425-CHAPTER 9- Conceptual Knowledge
conceptual knowledge
comprehension that enables people to recognize objects and events and make inferences about their properties
semantic dementia
condition in which there is a general loss of knowledge for all concepts
semantic somatotopy
correspondence between words related to specific body parts and the location of brain activity
error signal
difference between the output cue generated by stimuli and the actual output representing that stimuli
graceful degradation
disruption of performance that occurs only gradually as parts of the system are damaged
multiple-factor approach
distributed representation theory focusing on searching for attributes that determine division of concepts within a category
output unit
entity in a connectionist network that contains the final product of the network
input unit
entity in a connectionist network that is activated by stimulation from the environment
hidden unit
entity in a connectionist network that is located between the other two units
connection weight
feature that determines how signals sent from one unit affect the activity of the next unit
Which of the following pairs would have similar activation patterns when presented in an experiment that simulates error signals and changing connection weights?
"Tuna" and "shark"
Which of the following reaction time data sets illustrates the typicality effect for the bird category, given the following three trials? (NOTE: Read data sets as RTs for Trial 1: Trial 2: Trial 3) Trial 1: An owl is a bird. Trial 2: A penguin is a bird. Trial 3: A sparrow is a bird.
583: 653: 518 msec
Which of the following would likely represent a basic category?
A table.
Suppose a young child sees a canary and says, "That's a robin," to which the child's mother responds, "No, that's a canary...Robins have red breasts." In this example, the mother's information specifically functions like ___.
Back Propagation
Without actively thinking about it, Janelle just knows that every type of cat has whiskers—instead of thinking that lions and leopards and tabby cats each have whiskers. Janelle's experience can best be described as ________.
Cognitive Economy.
What is the effect of spreading activation?
Concepts are primed
If you were about to do a lexical decision task, you'd probably be ___.
Distinguishing words from non-words.
How do experts versus nonexperts differ in terms of how they create categories, if at all?
Experts tend to use more specific categories. Whereas non experts tend to use more basic categories.
In a semantic network, ___ should appear higher than ___.
Fish; Salmon
Which of the following concepts offers the medical community insights into rehabilitative services for people with brain damage?
Graceful Degradation
Sandeep is conducting research on the embodied approach to conceptual representation. His primary focus is on how subjects ________ a stimulus.
Interact with
Many people think that Michelangelo's sculpture of David serves as an icon of male physical beauty. Which of the following best describes the sculpture in the context of cognitive psychology?
It is a higher level than a prototype.
Tanak and Taylor built upon Rosch's research to demonstrate how ________ can affect our levels for categorizing concepts.
Knowledge
Marjorie has been diagnosed with semantic dementia. Which of the following can she recognize?
Neither a car nor cat.
In a parallel distributed processing model, connection weights are related to which of the following?
Network activity
In a connectionist network model, units are to ________ as connections are to ________.
Neurons; axons
What is the relationship between prototypicality and reaction time?
Reaction time tends to be faster for objects rated higher in prototypically.
Wallington and Shallice would say that our neural approach for representing concepts is based on ________.
Sensing and performing
In Rosch's approach, subordinate is to _____ as superordinate is to ________.
Specific; global
Which of the following orders lists the different levels of categories from most to least specific?
Subordinate; basic, superordinate.
Which of the following statements accurately describes an actual consequence of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to an individual?
TMS would temporarily disrupt the functioning of a particular area of the brain.
What is considered the central component of the hub and spoke model?
The anterior temporal lobe
When you use a hammer, sensory areas are activated in response to the various contours of the hammer. This example specifically illustrates ___.
The embodied approach.
The Collin and Quillian semantic networks model has been criticized because it does not account for ________.
Typicality
The children's program Sesame Street has run a longtime segment showing children a set of objects and singing, "One of these things is not like the others." Children must decide which object does not fit in the group. Which concept is reflected in this children's educational game?
Typicality
Which statement best characterizes Collins and Quillian's findings?
When a sentence crossed more levels of the hierarchy, it took participants longer to verify the sentence.
typicality
ability to judge usual members of a category faster than unusual members of a category
Latrell is participating in a replication of Hoffman and Ralph's research on the multiple-factor approach. Which of the following stimulus words would Latrell likely rate highest for color?
apple
anterior temporal lobe (ATL)
area in the brain that serves as a hub to integrate information from other areas
Collins and Quillian (1969) and Collins and Loftus (1975) explained the results of priming between related concepts (e.g., turtle to snake) by introducing the _______ cognitive process into their model.
automatic spreading activation
According to Rosch (1976), the _______ level of hierarchical organization of concepts is the psychologically "privileged" level of categorization that is typically used to describe people's everyday experiences.
basic
category
group of objects that belong together because they belong to the same class of objects
semantic network approach
idea for understanding how concepts are organized in the mind
crowding
idea that animals tend to share many properties
embodied approach
idea that knowledge is based on reactivation of sensory and motor processes occurring during interaction
cognitive economy
idea that shared properties of a category are stored higher in the network
priming
idea that the presentation of one stimulus affects responses to a stimulus that follows
family resemblance
idea that things in a particular category are similar in a number of ways
exemplar approach to categorization
individuals judge members of a group against group members they have encountered in the past
hierarchical organization
management of categories in which larger, general categories are divided into smaller, more specific categories
exemplar
members of a category that a person has experienced in the past
concept
mental representation of a class or individual
sentence verification technique
method whereby participants are asked to indicate whether a particular phrase is true or false
connectionism
model of mental operation proposing that concepts are represented in networks modeled after neural networks
Jorge and Bob are neighbors. Jorge loves birds and his father works for the zoo. He has been to a dozen bird sanctuaries, and he and his dad go on bird watching hikes once a month. In contrast, Bob doesn't think much about birds. His only contact with them is in his backyard. It would be correct to say that Jorge's standard probably involves
more exemplars than Bob's.
superordinate (global) level
most general category distinguished by Rosch—for example, "furniture"
mirror neuron
nerve cell that responds when an animal acts and when it observes the same action
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
procedure in which pulses are applied to the skull to temporarily disrupt some brain functions
back propagation
process by which learning can occur in a connectionist network by transmitting an error signal
hub and spoke model
proposal that different areas of the brain are connected to the anterior temporal lobe
semantic category approach
proposal that there are specific neural circuits in the brain for specific groups of objects
Which approach to categorization involves forming a standard representation based on an average of category members that a person has encountered in the past?
prototype
Rather than requiring strict adherence to categorical definitions, Wittgenstein favored the concept of ________.
resemblance
hierarchical model
scheme arranging levels where specific concepts are at the bottom and general concepts are higher
prototype
standard formed by averaging the category members a person has encountered in the past
What were the key data of interest in Collins and Quillian's sentence verification task?
the amount of time necessary to say that a sentence was TRUE
Sensory functional (s-f) hypothesis
theory that living things are distinguished by physical properties and artifacts by activity
What is the relationship between the embodied approach and mirror neurons?
thinking
What is the dependent variable in the scientific verification technique used by Edward Smith?
time
For which of the following categories would a definition probably be the MOST appropriate?
triangles
Which of the following would most people use to distinguish a hammer and a saw?
use
