Question 1

Matt is 5 years old and loves learning about animals.If asked,"Could you turn a skunk into a raccoon?" Matt would most likely say that

Accepted Answer

Matt would most likely understand that a skunk and a raccoon are two different species and cannot be turned into one another through changes in behavior or appearance.

Question 2

The term "basic-level category" refers to the

Accepted Answer

Basic-level categories are considered the most natural level of categorization because they are neither too specific (like the subordinate level) nor too general (like the superordinate level). They are the level at which people tend to group objects based on shared features and common uses, making them more efficient for cognitive processing and communication.

Question 3

An important difference between categorization via exemplars and categorization via prototypes is that according to exemplar theory

Accepted Answer

Exemplar theory allows for category membership to be determined by comparing new instances to a range of previously encountered exemplars rather than a single prototype. Therefore, the standard used in a particular category can vary from one occasion to the next. This is not the case in prototype theory, where a single prototype serves as the representative of the category.

Question 4

The claim that mental categories have graded membership is most compatible with which of the following claims?

Accepted Answer

The idea of graded membership suggests that some members are more typical or representative of a category than others. In this case, the statement "some dogs are 'doggier' than others" reflects this idea of variability within a category. The other statements do not address the concept of graded membership.

Question 5

In Trial 18 of a sentence verification task,participants see the sentence "A robin is a bird." In Trial 42 they see "A penguin is a bird." According to prototype theory,we should expect faster responses to

Accepted Answer

According to prototype theory, the category prototype (in this case, the prototype of a bird) is represented as an average of the members of the category that are most typical or common. Robins are a more typical example of a bird than penguins, and therefore the response time should be faster for "robin" than "penguin". The length of the word or response priming is not relevant to prototype theory in this instance.

Question 6

When we say,"There is a family resemblance among all the members of the Martinez family," we mean that

Accepted Answer

The statement implies that any two members of the Martinez family share some traits, but it does not necessarily mean there is one specific trait common to all members. This reflects the concept of family resemblance where similarities overlap among individuals without a single, universal trait.

Question 7

According to prototype theory,"being typical" for a category and "being a member of the category" should go together;if one is true,the other is true.In light of other things you know,which of the following is NOT a problem for this broad claim?

Accepted Answer

A poodle and a golden retriever are both typical members of the dog category, so this does not challenge the claim that typicality and category membership go together.

Question 8

Participants know that penguins are not typical birds,but they are certain that penguins are birds.This indicates that judgments about category membership

Accepted Answer

This is because participants recognize that penguins have characteristics that are not typical of birds (e.g. they cannot fly), but still consider them to be part of the bird category. Therefore, judgments about category membership are not settled entirely by an assessment of typicality.

Question 9

Which of the following examples are used to illustrate the idea that in some categories,members retain their category membership even if their appearance changes dramatically?

Accepted Answer

Mutilated lemons and counterfeit money are examples used to illustrate that some category memberships are retained despite changes in appearance, as a lemon remains a lemon even if mutilated, and money remains money even if counterfeit.

Question 10

Basic-level categories have which of the following traits?

Accepted Answer

Basic-level categories are usually represented in the language by a single word. They are the most commonly used and easily recognized categories by individuals, and they represent a level of specificity that is not too general or too specific.

Question 11

Categorization models based on family resemblance rely on

Accepted Answer

Categorization models based on family resemblance rely on overlap in the features of the various members of a category, meaning that members of a category share similar features or characteristics, but there may not be one specific defining feature or set of features that all members share. This is also known as prototype theory. Therefore, choices A, C, and D, which all refer to specific conditions or definitions for membership in a category, do not apply to categorization models based on family resemblance.

Question 12

According to prototype theory,the prototype selected for comparison is UNLIKELY to be the

Accepted Answer

Prototype theory suggests that the prototype or best example of a category is not the same for every person because individuals' experiences and perceptions vary, influencing their concept of the most representative example of a category.

Question 13

It has been suggested that mental categories have a family-resemblance structure,and usually don't have definitions.What is the basis for this claim?

Accepted Answer

Mental categories often have a family-resemblance structure, meaning that categorization is typically a matter of degree rather than an all-or-none process, which supports the idea that they usually don't have strict definitions.

Question 14

Participants are asked which birds they think are "particularly birdy" and which birds are "not very birdy." We should expect that the birds judged as "birdiest" are birds

Accepted Answer

The fact that participants are able to quickly identify these birds in a picture-identification task suggests that they are distinctive and easily recognizable, leading to them being perceived as "birdiest." The other choices are not necessarily related to the level of "birdiness" perceived by participants.

Question 15

It seems unlikely that mental definitions are used to represent our conceptual knowledge because

Accepted Answer

The answer of It seems unlikely that mental definitions are...

Question 16

According to exemplar-based theories of mental categories,participants identify an object by comparing it to a

Accepted Answer

Exemplar-based theories suggest that people categorize objects by comparing them to individual instances (or exemplars) of a category that they have encountered in the past, rather than to a prototype, definition, or mental image.

Question 17

According to prototype theory,the mental representation for each concept

Accepted Answer

According to prototype theory, the mental representation for each concept is likely to represent an average or ideal for the category's members. This means that the representation is not based on specific necessary and sufficient conditions or perceptual features, but rather a general idea of what the category looks like. Therefore, option A is the correct choice.

Question 18

Exemplar and prototype theories are similar in the following ways EXCEPT that

Accepted Answer

Exemplar theory involves comparing new stimuli with individual instances (exemplars) stored in memory, while prototype theory involves comparing new stimuli with an abstracted average (prototype) of category members. Only prototype theory requires previous memories to be averaged or combined to create a standard for a category.

Question 19

In one procedure,participants were asked to judge which was a "better" even number,4 or 18.The participants

Accepted Answer

The task of judging which is a better even number implies a gradation of membership within the category of even numbers. Therefore, participants who made their judgments implied a graded-membership pattern for the category of even numbers.

Question 20

If asked to name as many birds as they can,participants are most likely to name

Accepted Answer

The prototype bird is often considered to be a small, familiar songbird such as a robin or sparrow. Therefore, participants are most likely to name birds that resemble this prototype.

Quiz 9: Concepts and Generic Knowledge