Cognition Exam 3

conceptual knowledge

Knowledge that enables people to recognize objects and events and to make inferences about their properties.

Concepts

A mental representation of a class or individual. Also, the meaning of objects, events, and abstract ideas. An example of a concept would be the way a person mentally represents “cat” or “house.”

category

Groups of objects that belong together because they belong to the same class of objects, such as “houses,” “furniture,” or “schools.”

definitional approach to categorization

The idea that we can decide whether something is a member of a category by determining whether the object meets the definition of the category. See also Family resemblance.

family resemblance

In considering the process of categorization, the idea that things in a particular category resemble each other in a number of ways. This approach can be contrasted with the definitional approach, which states that an object belongs to a category only when it meets a definite set of criteria.

prototype approach to categorization

The idea that we decide whether something is a member of a category by determining whether it is similar to a standard representation of the category, called a prototype.

prototype

A standard used in categorization that is formed by averaging the category members a person has encountered in the past. the prototype is not an actual member of the category but is an “average” representation of the category

sentence verification technique

A technique in which the participant is asked to indicate whether a particular sentence is true or false. For example, sentences like “An apple is a fruit” have been used in studies on categorization.

typicality effect

The ability to judge the truth or falsity of sentences involving high-prototypical members of a category more rapidly than sentences involving low-prototypical members of a category. See also Sentence verification technique.

exemplar approach to categorization

The approach to categorization in which members of a category are judged against exemplars—examples of members of the category that the person has encountered in the past.

Exemplars

In categorization, members of a category that a person has experienced in the past.

hierarchical organization

Organization of categories in which larger, more general categories are divided into smaller, more specific categories. These smaller categories can, in turn, be divided into even more specific categories to create a number of levels.

superordinate level

The most general category level distinguished by Rosch—for example, “furniture.”

basic level

In Rosch’s categorization scheme, the level below the global (superordinate) level (e.g., “table” or “chair” for the superordinate category “furniture”). According to Rosch, the basic level is psychologically special because it is the level above which much information is lost and below which little is gained. See also Global level; Specific level.

subordinate level

The most specific category level distinguished by Rosch—for example, “kitchen table.”

semantic network approach

An approach to understanding how concepts are organized in the mind that proposes that concepts are arranged in networks.

hierarchical model

As applied to knowledge representation, a model that consists of levels arranged so that more specific concepts, such as canary or salmon, are at the bottom and more general concepts, such as bird, fish, or animal, are at higher levels.

cognitive economy

A feature of some semantic network models in which properties of a category that are shared by many members of a category are stored at a higher-level node in the network. For example, the property “can fly” would be stored at the node for “bird” rather than at the node for “canary.”

Spreading activation

Activity that spreads out along any link in a semantic network that is connected to an activated node.

lexical decision task

A procedure in which a person is asked to decide as quickly as possible whether a particular stimulus is a word or a nonword.

Connectionism

A network model of mental operation that proposes that concepts are represented in networks that are modeled after neural networks. This approach to describing the mental representation of concepts is also called the parallel distributed processing (PDP) approach. See also Connectionist network.

connectionist network

The type of network proposed by the connectionist approach to the representation of concepts. Connectionist networks are based on neural networks but are not necessarily identical to them. One of the key properties of a connectionist network is that a specific category is represented by activity that is distributed over many units in the network. This contrasts with semantic networks, in which specific categories are represented at individual nodes.

input units

Units in a connectionist network that are activated by stimulation from the environment. See also Connectionist network; Hidden units; Output units.

hidden units

Units in a connectionist network that are located between input units and output units. See also Connectionist network; Input units; Output units.

output units

Units in a connectionist network that contain the final output of the network. See also Connectionist network; Hidden units; Input units.

connection weight

In connectionist models, a connection weight determines the degree to which signals sent from one unit either increase or decrease the activity of the next unit.

error signal

During learning in a connectionist network, the difference between the output signal generated by a particular stimulus and the output that actually represents that stimulus.

back propagation

A process by which learning can occur in a connectionist network, in which an error signal is transmitted backward through the network. This backward-transmitted error signal provides the information needed to adjust the weights in the network to achieve the correct output signal for a stimulus.

category-specific memory impairment

A result of brain damage in which the patient has trouble recognizing objects in a specific category.

sensory-functional (S-F) hypothesis

Explanation of how semantic information is represented in the brain that states that the ability to differentiate living things and artifacts depends on one system that distinguishes sensory attributes (animals) and another system that distinguishes function (artifacts).

multiple-factor approach

Seeking to describe how concepts are represented in the brain by searching for multiple factors that determine how concepts are divided up within a category.

crowding

Animals tend to share many properties, such as eyes, legs, and the ability to move. This is relevant to the multiple-factor approach to the representation of concepts in the brain.

semantic category approach

An approach to describing how semantic information is represented in the brain that proposes that there are specific neural circuits for some specific categories.

embodied approach

Proposal that our knowledge of concepts is based on reactivation of sensory and motor processes that occur when we interact with an object.

semantic somatotopy

Correspondence between words related to specific parts of the body and the location of brain activity associated with that part of the body.

semantic dementia

Condition in which there is a general loss of knowledge for all concepts

anterior temporal lobe (ATL)

Area in the temporal lobe. Damage to the ATL has been connected with semantic deficits in dementia patients and with the savant syndrome.

hub and spoke model

A model of semantic knowledge that proposes that areas of the brain that are associated with different functions are connected to the anterior temporal lobe, which integrates information from these areas.

transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

A procedure in which magnetic pulses are applied to the skull in order to temporarily disrupt the functioning of part of the brain

Mental imagery

Experiencing a sensory impression in the absence of sensory input.

imageless thought debate

The debate about whether thought is possible in the absence of images.

paired-associate learning

participants are presented with pairs of words, like boat–hat or car–house, during a study period. They are then presented, during the test period, with the first word from each pair. Their task is to recall the word that was paired with it during the study period. Thus, if they were presented with the word boat, the correct response would be hat. Paivio showed that it was easier to remember concrete nouns, like truck or tree, that can be imaged than it is to remember abstract nouns, like truth or justice, that are difficult to image.

conceptual peg hypothesis

A hypothesis, associated with Paivio’s dual coding theory, that states that concrete nouns create images that other words can hang on to, which enhances memory for these words.

mental chronometry

Determining the amount of time needed to carry out a cognitive task.

mental scanning

A process of mental imagery in which a person scans a mental image in his or her mind.

imagery debate

The debate about whether imagery is based on spatial mechanisms, such as those involved in perception, or on propositional mechanisms that are related to language.

spatial representations

A representation in which different parts of an image can be described as corresponding to specific locations in space. See also Depictive representation.

epiphenomenon

A phenomenon that accompanies a mechanism but is not actually part of the mechanism. An example of an epiphenomenon is lights that flash on a mainframe computer as it operates

propositional representations

A representation in which relationships are represented by symbols, as when the words of a language represent objects and the relationships between objects.

depictive representations

Corresponds to spatial representation. So-called because a spatial representation can be depicted by a picture.