COG PSYC FINAL

What are the labels associated with the hierarchical organization of concepts?

· Superordinate (Global): e.g., Vehicle

· Basic: e.g., Car

· Subordinate (Specific): e.g., Sedan, Ford

What objects that represent a "basic-level" category.

Basic-level examples: Tree, Car, Shark

More specific than "Plant" (superordinate)

Less specific than "Oak Tree" (subordinate)

Why does the definitional approach to categorization not work?

Many category members don't share all defining features

E.g., Not all birds fly (ostrich, kiwi)

Doesn't account for fuzzy boundaries or atypical members

What is the definition of family resemblance?

Definition: Category members share overlapping features, not exact criteria

Example: Games like charades, poker, and football look different but have commonalities

Match the definition to the concept for exemplars vs. prototypes.

Prototype: An abstract, idealized "average" member of a category

Exemplar: A real, stored example you've encountered before

What is the relationship between prototypicality and sentence verification time?

More prototypical items are verified faster as category members

E.g., "A robin is a bird" is verified quicker than "A penguin is a bird."

What is the theory underlying Paivio's Dual-Code/Conceptual Peg Hypothesis?

Theory: Concrete nouns (like tree) are easier to remember than abstract ones (like opposition) because they can be coded both verbally and visually.

This supports the idea that two codes (dual coding) are better than one for memory.

What is the definition to the position in the Visual Imagery Debate?

Depictive (Kosslyn): Mental imagery is spatial and analog, similar to visual perception.

Propositional (Pylyshyn): Mental imagery is symbolic and abstract, and spatial experience is just a byproduct (epiphenomenon).

What the relationship between visual imagery and visual perception?

They share overlapping neural mechanisms and brain areas.

Evidence includes:

Interference (e.g., perception disrupts imagery)

Facilitation (e.g., imagery primes perception)

What is an example of functional equivalence between imagery and perception?

Mental Scanning (Kosslyn): People take longer to mentally scan between objects that are farther apart in a mental image, just like scanning a real scene.

Mental Rotation: Time to mentally rotate an object increases with the angle, similar to physical rotation.

Which objects would activate the farthest forward region in the visual cortex?

Larger visual objects (e.g., buildings, landscapes) activate the more forward (anterior) areas of the visual cortex.

Smaller objects are represented further back (posterior).

What is an example of the relative position heuristic?

Example: People incorrectly think Montreal is farther north than Seattle because Canada is conceptually "above" the U.S.

We use general conceptual knowledge (e.g., country positions) rather than precise geography.

What is the phonemic restoration effect?

It's when your brain fills in missing speech sounds (phonemes) using context, even if those sounds are masked or not actually heard.

What is a morpheme?

The smallest unit of language that carries meaning or a grammatical function.

How do you identify the prefix, root, and suffix morphemes in a word?

Break the word into meaningful parts: The Prefix comes before the root (e.g., un- in unhappiness)

Root is the main word (e.g., happy). A suffix comes after the root (e.g., ness)

What is the word frequency effect?

We recognize and process high-frequency (common) words faster than low-frequency (rare) words.

What is one complication in understanding spoken words?

There are no pauses between words in natural speech, so we have to use speech segmentation—listening for patterns and context clues to figure out individual words.

What do semantics, syntax, and parsing mean?

Semantics = The meaning of words or sentences

Syntax = The rules for how words are ordered in a sentence

Parsing = Grouping words into phrases in our mind to understand sentences

What problem do garden path sentences cause?

They lead to temporary confusion because the sentence structure initially leads you to the wrong interpretation.

What's the difference between lexical ambiguity and syntactic ambiguity?

Lexical ambiguity = A single word has multiple meanings (e.g., "bat")

Syntactic ambiguity = The sentence structure can be understood in more than one way (e.g., "The man saw the girl with the telescope")

What is the formal definition of a "problem"?

A problem is an obstacle between a present state and a goal, where the solution is not immediately obvious.

What is the difference between well-defined and ill-defined problems?

Well-defined problems have clear goals, starting points, and rules (e.g., assembling furniture).

Ill-defined problems are ambiguous in goals, starting state, or steps (e.g., resolving a conflict).

What is the difference between knowledge-rich and knowledge-lean problems?

Knowledge-rich problems require a lot of prior knowledge (e.g., medical diagnosis).

Knowledge-lean problems require little prior knowledge (e.g., solving a simple puzzle).

What concept is associated with the "Aha!" moment?

Insight — a sudden realization of the solution after a problem is restructured.

How do "feelings of warmth" relate to insight vs. noninsight problems?

In noninsight problems, feelings of warmth (closeness to solution) gradually increase.

In insight problems, the warmth remains low and then spikes suddenly at the moment of realization.

What is functional fixedness?

It's the tendency to see objects only in terms of their typical use, which can block problem solving.Example: Not realizing a matchbox could be used as a candle holder.

How do these concepts relate to specific problems?

Functional Fixedness: Duncker's Candle Problem (matchbox seen only as a container)

Analogical Transfer: Using the Fortress Story to solve Duncker's Radiation Problem

Information-Processing Approach: Tower of Hanoi and Water Jug Problems (step-by-step states and operators)

Perceptual Grouping: Nine-Dot Problem (seeing dots as a square limits solution)

What is analogical transfer?

It's solving a new problem (target) using the solution of a previously solved problem (source) by noticing, mapping, and applying structural similarities.

What are the definitions of divergent and convergent thinking?

Divergent thinking = Generating many possible solutions or ideas (e.g., alternative uses for a paperclip).

Convergent thinking = Narrowing down to the single best solution (e.g., solving a math problem).