Deck 9: Conceptual Knowledge

Question 1

The definitional approach to categorization

A) is not well suited for geometrical objects but works for familiar everyday objects.
B) sets definite criteria called family resemblances that all category members must have.
C) doesn't work well for most natural objects like birds, trees, and plants.
D) was proposed to replace the prototype approach.

Answer 1

doesn't work well for most natural objects like birds, trees, and plants.

Question 2

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.

A) 583: 518: 653 ms
B) 518: 583: 653 ms
C) 583: 653: 518 ms
D) 653: 583: 518 ms

Answer 2

583: 653: 518 ms

Question 3

An advantage of the exemplar approach over the prototype approach is that the exemplar approach provides a better explanation of the ___________ effect.

A) resemblance
B) typicality
C) priming
D) reaction time

Answer 3

typicality

Question 4

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

A) more prototypes than Bob's.
B) more exemplars than Bob's.
C) more prototypes and more exemplars than Bob's.
D) the same prototypes and exemplars as Bob's.

Question 5

Priming occurs when presentation of one stimulus

A) disrupts the processing of another stimulus.
B) acts as a cue that tells the participant when his or her response was correct.
C) facilitates the response to another stimulus that usually follows closely in time.
D) relates to a prototype in a way that is unrelated to associated exemplars.

Question 6

A task for determining how prototypical an object is would be

A) a fill in the blank task where participants generate paired members within a category.
B) a task where participants rate the extent to which each member represents the category title.
C) a task where participants rate the extent to which category members resemble one another.
D) a fill in the blank task where participants generate the category classification for a list of members.

Question 7

For the category "fruit," people give a higher typicality rating to "banana" than to "kiwi." Knowing that, we can also reason that

A) the word "fruit" will lead to a larger priming effect for banana than for kiwi.
B) when people are asked to list all the fruits they can think of, kiwi will usually appear on their list before banana.
C) neither kiwi nor banana is likely to be the fruit "closest" to the prototype of the fruit category.
D) people will have a similar number of exemplars for kiwi and banana.

Question 8

Which approach to categorization can more easily take into account atypical cases such as flightless birds?

A) Exemplar
B) Prototype
C) Definitional
D) Network

Question 9

Imagine that a young child is just learning about the category "dog." Thus far, she has experienced only two dogs, one a poodle and the other a German shepherd. On her third encounter with a dog, she will be LEAST likely to correctly categorize the animal as a dog if that animal

A) matches the size of the poodle but is of a different breed.
B) is a breed of dog that is hairless and teacup-sized.
C) matches an exemplar of one of the dogs she has experienced.
D) is similar to an "average" for the dogs she has encountered.

Question 10

___________ are actual members of a category that a person has encountered in the past.

A) Icons
B) Prototypes
C) Units
D) Exemplars

Question 11

___________is a "typical" member of a category.

A) A prototype
B) An exemplar
C) A unit
D) A component

Question 12

Which approach to categorization involves forming a standard representation based on an average of category members that a person has encountered in the past?

A) Exemplar
B) Network
C) Typicality
D) Prototype

Question 13

Two different definitions of ___________ offered by your book include (a) "the mental representation of a class or individual," and (b) "categories of objects, events, and abstract ideas."

A) exemplars
B) concepts
C) units
D) prototypes

Question 14

The principle illustrated when most people are able to recognize a variety of examples of chairs even though no one category member may have all of the characteristic properties of "chairs" (e.g., most chairs have four legs but not all do) is

A) family resemblance.
B) prototypicality.
C) graded membership.
D) instance theory.

Question 15

Not all of the members of everyday categories have the same features. Most fish have gills, fins, and scales. Sharks lack the feature of scales, yet they are still categorized as fish. This poses a problem for the ___________ approach to categorization.

A) prototype
B) exemplar
C) definitional
D) family resemblance

Question 16

Rosch found that participants respond more rapidly in a same-different task when presented with "good" examples of colors such as "red" and "green" than when they are presented with "poor" examples such as "pink" and "light green." The result of this experiment was interpreted as supporting the ___________ approach to categorization.

A) exemplar
B) prototype
C) network
D) parallel processing

Question 17

According to the typicality effect

A) objects in a category have a family resemblance to one another.
B) objects that are not typical stand out and so are more easily remembered.
C) items that are high in prototypicality are judged more rapidly as being in a group.
D) we remember typical objects better than nontypical objects.

Question 18

If you say that "a Labrador retriever is my idea of a typical dog," you would be using the ___________ approach to categorization.

A) exemplar
B) definitional
C) family resemblance
D) prototype

Question 19

Items high on prototypicality have ___________ family resemblances.

A) no
B) weak
C) moderate
D) strong

Question 20

The prototype approach to categorization states that a standard representation of a category is based on

A) the definition of the category.
B) a universal set of category members.
C) a defined set of category members.
D) category members that have been encountered in the past.

Question 21

Spreading activation

A) primes associated concepts.
B) inhibits unrelated concepts.
C) creates new links between associated concepts.
D) weakens the link between unrelated concepts.

Question 22

Which of the following represents a basic level item?

A) Musical instrument
B) Guitar
C) Rock guitar
D) Paul McCartney's bass guitar

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT associated with the semantic network model?

A) Family resemblance
B) Hierarchical organization
C) Cognitive economy
D) Spreading activation

Question 24

Which of the following would be in a basic level category?

A) Truck
B) Vehicle
C) Pickup truck
D) Transportation

Question 25

In the semantic network model, a specific category or concept is represented at a

A) link.
B) input unit.
C) node.
D) output unit.

Question 26

Rosch and coworkers conducted an experiment in which participants were shown a category label, like a car or vehicle, and then, after a brief delay, saw a picture. The participants' task was to indicate as rapidly as possible whether the picture was a member of the category. Their results showed

A) the priming effect was most robust for superordinate level categories.
B) the priming effect was most robust for basic level categories.
C) no measurable priming effect.
D) the priming effect was the same for superordinate and basic level categories.

Question 27

According to Rosch, the ___________ level of categories reflects people's everyday experience.

A) exemplary
B) prototypical
C) basic
D) subordinate

Question 28

The semantic network model predicts that the time it takes for a person to retrieve information about a concept should be determined by

A) the amount of information contained in each concept.
B) the distance that must be traveled through the network.
C) the typicality of the information contained in each concept.
D) the representativeness of the information contained in each concept.

Question 29

Collins and Quillian's semantic network model predicts that the reaction time to verify "a canary is a bird" is ___________ the reaction time to verify "an ostrich is a bird."

A) interfered with by
B) faster than
C) the same as
D) slower than

Question 30

Which of the following is a connectionist model proposing that concepts are represented by activity that is spread across a network?

A) Semantic network theory
B) The prototype approach
C) Parallel distributed processing theory
D) Enhancement due to priming

Question 31

Which of the choices best represents cognitive economy in the following sentence? The property _______is stored at the _______node.

A) can fly; bird
B) can fly; canary
C) has feathers; ostrich
D) bird; penguin

Question 32

In a lexical decision task, participants have to decide whether

A) a statement is true.
B) a presented stimulus is a word.
C) a stimulus is presented.
D) two stimuli are associated.

Question 33

In evaluating retrieval rates for category information for a concept, Collins and Quillian's semantic network approach would predict the slowest reaction times for which of the following statements using a sentence verification technique?

A) A field sparrow is a bird.
B) A field sparrow is a sparrow.
C) A field sparrow is an animal.
D) A field sparrow is a field sparrow.

Question 34

Which of the following terms is most closely associated with semantic networks?

A) Distributed processing
B) Cognitive economy
C) Prototype formation
D) Serial processing

Question 35

Your text describes cross-cultural studies of categorization with U.S. and Itzaj participants. Given the results of these studies, we know that if asked to name basic level objects for a category, U.S. participants would answer ___________ and Itzaj participants would answer ___________.

A) tree; tree
B) tree; oak
C) oak; tree
D) oak; oak

Question 36

According to Collins and Quillian's semantic network model, it should take longest to verify which statement below?

A) Turtles are turtles.
B) A turtle is an animal.
C) A turtle is related to a fish.
D) A turtle is an amphibian.

Question 37

Based on the information your textbook provided about different category types, jumping from ___________ categories results in the largest gain in information.

A) superordinate level to basic level
B) basic level to subordinate level
C) subordinate level to basic level
D) basic level to superordinate level

Question 38

Research suggests that the ___________ approach to categorization works best for small categories (e.g., U.S. presidents).

A) semantic network
B) definitional
C) prototype
D) exemplar

Question 39

The ___________ model includes associations between concepts and the property of spreading activation.

A) parallel distributed processing
B) connectionist network
C) neural network
D) semantic network

Question 40

Collins and Quillian explained the results of priming experiments by introducing the concept of ___________ into their network model.

A) spreading activation
B) cognitive economy
C) typicality
D) back propagation

Question 41

Which of the following lies at the foundation of a connectionist network?

A) Crowding
B) Learning
C) Prototyping
D) Mirroring

Question 42

Which of the following is NOT a property of the connectionist approach?

A) The operation of connectionist networks is not totally disrupted by damage.
B) Connectionist networks can explain generalization of learning.
C) Before any learning has occurred in the network, the weights in the network all equal zero.
D) The connectionist model is rather complex, and involves components like units, links, and connection weights.

Question 43

Which of the following theories on conceptual representation combines both sensory and motor experiences?

A) The sensory-functional hypothesis
B) The embodied approach
C) The multiple-factor approach
D) The hub and spoke model

Question 44

According to the hub and spoke model, which area of the brain serves as the hub?

A) Medial thalamus
B) Anterior temporal lobe
C) Parietal lobe
D) Occipital lobe

Question 45

According to the ___________ approach, there are certain types of concepts that have specific neural circuits in the brain.

A) semantic category
B) neuronal limitation
C) multiple-factor
D) sensory-functional

Question 46

Which of the following is NOT one of the types of units found within a parallel distributed processing model?

A) Hidden units
B) Input units
C) Working units
D) Output units

Question 47

According to the connectionist model, which of the following is impacted by connection weight?

A) Category priming
B) Storage capacity
C) Sensory reactivation
D) Synapse activity

Question 48

Learning takes place in a connectionist network through a process of ___________ in which an error signal is transmitted starting from the property units.

A) graceful degradation
B) error verification
C) spreading activation
D) back propagation

Question 49

The process of back propagation is most closely associated with

A) semantic networks.
B) connectionist networks.
C) reasoning about categories.
D) spreading activation.

Question 50

Learning in the connectionist network is represented by adjustments to network

A) connection weights.
B) nodes.
C) hidden units.
D) output units.

Question 51

According to the sensory-functional hypothesis, our ability to differentiate living things and artifacts depends on a semantic memory system that distinguishes _____ and one that distinguishes _____.

A) sensations; facts
B) sensory attributes; function
C) serial nodes; familiar concepts
D) sequential networks; familial resemblance

Question 52

A person who has been diagnosed with ________ dementia has difficulty recognizing both living things and artifacts.

A) semantic
B) symbiotic
C) parallel
D) superordinate

Question 53

The four proposals addressing the representation of concepts in the brain all agree that the information is ________.

A) subordinate
B) graded
C) distributed
D) fragile

Question 54

One beneficial property of connectionist networks is graceful degradation, which refers to the property that

A) these networks learn by a process that is analogous to the way a child learns about the world by making mistakes and being corrected.
B) learning a new concept does not interfere with remembering a previously learned concept.
C) damage to the system does not completely disrupt its operation.
D) learning can be generalized between similar concepts to facilitate future learning.

Question 55

In the multiple-factor approach, the fact that people exhibit physical attributes, actions, and emotions is known as ________.

A) weighting
B) stacking
C) loading
D) crowding

Question 56

It may be difficult for young Matthew, who is only 4 years of age, to understand the difference between the iPad that his mother uses, the Kindle that his brother uses, and the Galaxy tablet that his sister uses. After all, all of them are tablets, have touch screens, are electronic technology, and run "apps" that include games and educational programs. These similarities remind us of the concept of ___________, which refers to the fact that animals tend to share many different properties.

A) obstruction
B) convergence
C) crowding
D) overlapping

Question 57

One criticism of the embodied approach is that it doesn't explain how humans can recognize ________.

A) colors
B) abstractions
C) actions
D) artifacts

Question 58

In the context of cognitive psychology and conceptual models, a tool would be classified as a(n) ________.

A) example
B) spoke
C) artifact
D) node

Question 59

The connectionist network has learned the correct pattern for a concept when

A) the connection weights add up to exactly +1.00.
B) the output pattern matches the initial input pattern and this symmetry becomes "locked" into the system.
C) the error signals are reduced to nearly none and the correct properties are assigned.
D) the output unit response is greater than zero and the input signal has to compensate.

Question 60

One of the key properties of the ___________ approach is that a specific concept is represented by activity that is distributed over many units in the network.

A) semantic network
B) hierarchical
C) spreading activation
D) connectionist

Question 61

Choose two of the following approaches to compare and contrast: sensory-functional hypothesis, multiple-factor approach, semantic category approach, and embodied approach. Indicate which proposal you think is strongest and which is weakest, providing information to support your opinion.

Question 62

Present a hierarchical model for a living thing or artifact, moving from specific to general. Include at least three levels and be sure to include both sensory and functional properties.

Question 63

Describe the prototype approach to categorization. Define "prototype" and give examples for the category of "clothing." Mention one item that is high and one that is low on prototypicality in the clothing category.

Question 64

Explain how learning occurs in a connectionist network. Describe the process of back propagation. How is the pattern of output activity in a network adjusted so that the output signal matches the correct signal for a given stimulus?

Question 65

Explain how personal knowledge impacts the basic level of categorization under Rosch's approach. Give examples comparing two individuals' knowledge of a concept to support your thinking.

Question 66

Explain what is meant by the statement: The concept "cat" is the answer to the question "What is a cat?"