natural categories

artificial categories

ad hoc categories

categories of objects that occur naturally in the world

e.g. birds

categories created by humans to serve particular functions

e.g. tools, sports, furnature

goal-derived categories

e.g. things to eat when you are on a diet

concept is defined by a set of _________ and _________ features

necessary and sufficent

concepts are organized around properties/features that are characteristics of category members

important - all members of the category do not need to share same properties

mental representation of typical family member

has average features of all category members

people don't have one representation that encompasses who concept

theory?

1. learned faster

2. named first

3. affected more by priming

new instances

other exemplars

indentifies what category objects belong in

focus is on between category information

inferring properties of object

focus is on within category structure

functions of concepts

(5)

1. classification

2. understanding and explanation

3. prediction

4. reasoning

5. communication

problems with prototype theory

(4)

1. no learning theory

2. fails to capture people's knowledge of individual category members

3. can't explain why people are sensitive to co-occurance of features

4. context influences categorization

context effects on categorization

(2)

1. context influences how we use concepts to solve problems and reason

2. context can prime items with low prototypicality

classification evidence supports _________ theory

key evidence: ability to classify atypical category members (especially atypical members that vary drastically from prototype)

induction evidence supports _______ theory

key evidence: property induction is typically biased toward properties of prototype

according to Malt -

we may initially learn ____ and then later average them into a ________

exemplars

prototype

according to markman & ross -

how we interact with the world influences the _________

category learning leads to ______ representations

inference learning leads to _______ representations

exemplar

prototype

activation

associative

hierarchial model

it takes longer to verify membership in a ____ category (e.g. a robin is an animal), than to verify membership in a _____ category (e.g. a robin is a bird)

large

small

problems with the hierarchical model

(2)

1. can't explain typicality effects

2. retrieval time predictions are sometimes incorrect

semantic network model

(spreading activation model)

assumes concepts are linked in an associative network that is shaped by a peron's _________

semantic network model

 (spreading activation model)

concepts are not linked in a _________ structure

semantic network model

(spreading activation model)

person's experiences determine ______ ______ _____ and not come a-priori heirarchy

autobiographical memories = __________

autobiographical facts = ___________

episodic

semantic

studying autobiographical memory

(4 foci)

age of reaclled memories

vividness/detail

emotional intensity

difference across groups of people (e.g. culture, gender, race)

1. targeted event recall

2. diary technique

3. cue-word technique

explanations for childhood amnesia

(3

brain development

language

development of cognitive self

childhoos amnesia

explanation for brain development

childhood amnesia

language development explanation

childhood amnesia

development of cognitive self explanation

autobiographical memory is a narrative (meaningful story) about one's experiences

the goal is to create a coherent meaning story

biology, language, and self concept are all important

many life milestones (first job, first year of college)

salient, distinctive, and important

explanations to reminicinces bump

(3)

"firsts"

cognitive functioning at it's peak

critical period for identity information

valence

arousal

refers to the intensity of the emotional state (emotionally nonspecific)

memory increases with ______ but there is a breaking point

valence

does event elicit positive or negative affect

positive _ negative

detailed, vivid, and confidently help memory for emotionally charged events

e.g. JFK assassination, challenger explosion, terrorist attacks on sept 11

characteristics for flashbulb memories

(2)

people remember many details (location, activity, source, emotion, and aftermath)

highly confident in accuracy of memories

voluntary retrieval

speed: _____

process: _______

content: ______

slow

reconstructive

general

involuntary retrival

speed: ______

content: _______

quick

specific