Deck 10: Concepts and Knowledge

Question 1

Eleanor Rosch proposed the ______ approach, a theoretical view of concepts that she considered superior to the classical approach.

A) typicality
B) prototype
C) abstract representational
D) weighted average

Answer 1

prototype

Question 2

Which of these is TRUE of the definition approach to concepts?

A) It is unnecessarily complicated and difficult to understand.
B) It works poorly for many "real-life" situations (as opposed to pure mathematics).
C) Its necessary and sufficient features are self-evident.
D) It has been the preferred approach to concepts for the last 50 years.

Answer 2

It works poorly for many "real-life" situations (as opposed to pure mathematics).

Question 3

A mental representation of a category of things in the world is known as a(n) ______.

A) stereotype
B) prototype
C) example
D) concept

Answer 3

concept

Question 4

In psychology, "family resemblance" means that people, objects, or concepts in a category ______.

A) share overlapping sets of features
B) share a single set of defining features
C) may seem identical but differ in important ways
D) may seem identical but differ in subtle ways

Question 5

The major difference between the exemplar approach and the prototype approach is that in the exemplar approach, people make comparisons ______.

A) between more recent rather than older memories
B) between older rather than more recent memories
C) to abstractions rather than memories of actual experiences
D) to memories of actual experiences rather than to an abstraction of those experiences

Question 6

How does the ability to categorize help humans?

A) Categories help us create helpful stereotypes to follow and add to.
B) If we know something belongs to a certain category, we do not need to remember the properties of that category for that item.
C) If we know something belongs to a certain category, we do not need to relearn the properties of that category for that item.
D) Categories help us create helpful prototypes to follow and add to.

Question 7

Your psychology professor asks you and your classmates to write down the necessary and sufficient features of a pet. Based on what you have read in this chapter, what would you expect to find when you read your classmates' definitions?

A) nearly precise agreement because everyone in the class has the same idea of a simple concept like "pet"
B) general agreement, but not as precise an agreement as you would see if the professor asked the class to categorize a series of photographs of pets and non-pets
C) more precise agreement than you would see if the professor asked the class to categorize a series of photos of pets and non-pets
D) about the same level of agreement that you would see if the professor asked the class to categorize a series of photographs of pets and non-pets

Question 8

The unique aspect of Barsalou's work was to study things that are grouped together by their ______.

A) central tendency
B) frequency of instantiation
C) satisfaction of goal qualifications
D) granular distinctiveness

Question 9

If an object is ______ typical of a concept, then people will recall ______ members of that concept.

A) less; more
B) more; fewer
C) less; fewer
D) approximately; no

Question 10

Which of these is an example of a goal-derived concept?

A) healthful foods
B) types of beans
C) research subjects who are older than age 25
D) birds of North America

Question 11

A result in which more common members of a category show a processing advantage is known as the ______.

A) typicality effect
B) family resemblance view
C) similarity effect
D) prototype approach

Question 12

Which of these examples is the poorest fit for the concept of a game?

A) a spinning top
B) poker
C) tic-tac-toe
D) rock-paper-scissors

Question 13

Barsalou (1985) examined goal-derived concepts, which are categories of things grouped together based on ______.

A) how familiar their features are to the typical research subject
B) divergent structural features
C) shared observable features
D) how well their members satisfy a particular purpose

Question 14

You see a blue jay for the first time. Based on what you have read about the exemplar approach, which of the following is most likely to come to mind after you see the blue jay?

A) cardinal
B) chicken
C) swan
D) ostrich

Question 15

You want to design a study that explores the exemplar approach. What is the best way to prevent people from applying their previous knowledge to the questions you ask them?

A) Ask questions about an obscure concept that few people have studied.
B) Make sure that your questions are about common concepts familiar to all your research subjects.
C) Invent an artificial concept and ask your research subjects questions about it.
D) Include a survey with your questions so that you understand how extensive your research subjects' knowledge is.

Question 16

According to Rosch & Mervis (1975), which of the following is an example of a less typical member of the category of "furniture"?

A) chair
B) sofa
C) table
D) lamp

Question 17

The prototype of a category is a(n) ______ of the important features of its members.

A) discussion
B) detailed list
C) weighted average
D) exemplar

Question 18

Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein argued against the definition approach by proposing a theory of ______.

A) familiarity
B) family resemblance
C) similarity
D) categorical comparison

Question 19

The view of concepts as definitions with lists of necessary and sufficient properties can be traced as far back as ______.

A) ancient Roman thinkers
B) Sigmund Freud
C) B. F. Skinner
D) early Greek philosophers

Question 20

Rosa is participating in an experiment in which she must name prototypical examples of animals similar to robins. Which of the following is she most likely to indicate as being similar to a robin?

A) blue jay
B) ostrich
C) duck
D) goose

Question 21

Your friend tells you that she just got a new golden retriever that is two years old. You assume that it has yellowish fur and is a fairly large dog. Your thoughts are an example of category ______.

A) reduction
B) induction
C) specification
D) generation

Question 22

Which of these is a reasonable criticism of the research you read about in this chapter?

A) The concepts that researchers have studied have been too complex to reflect how most people categorize most of the time.
B) Researchers have concentrated almost exclusively on the part of the brain that processes and stores concepts.
C) Studying individuals who have reasoning deficits does not help us understand cognitive function in neurotypical people.
D) The concepts that researchers have studied have been fairly simple and therefore not reflective of real-world conceptual categorization.

Question 23

The feature comparison approach argues that people use their ______ abilities rather than a ______ to compare two concepts.

A) reasoning; knowledge network
B) classification; hierarchy
C) categorization; series of steps
D) emotional; mental template

Question 24

Collins and Loftus created a revised semantic network model to ______.

A) violate the transitive inheritance of properties
B) give each connection between concepts the same weight
C) try to account for typicality effects
D) show that people do not use hierarchies when organizing concepts

Question 25

People with ______ experience worsening deterioration of their conceptual knowledge.

A) episodic dementia
B) Broca's aphasia
C) Wernicke's aphasia
D) semantic dementia

Question 26

Categories higher in a conceptual hierarchy are ______ to lower levels, while categories lower are ______ to higher levels.

A) auxiliary; peripheral
B) subordinate; superordinate
C) superordinate; subordinate
D) peripheral; auxiliary

Question 27

How does Barsalou's perceptual symbols theory differ from the other theories of how we represent perceptual knowledge?

A) Barsalou's theory is based on neural networks and mathematical patterns.
B) Ancient philosophers championed this theory, but then it fell out of favor until Barsalou rediscovered and revised it.
C) The perceptual symbols theory is the most widely investigated and accepted theory.
D) Barsalou's theory includes actions and sensory details.

Question 28

Superordinate concepts are usually ______, while subordinate concepts tend to be ______.

A) Informative but not as distinctive; distinctive and informative
B) Distinctive but not as informative; informative but not as distinctive
C) Distinctive and informative; neither distinctive nor informative
D) Neither distinctive nor informative; distinctive and informative

Question 29

Based on what you have read, which of these is an accurate statement about how people organize concepts?

A) Humans rarely group concepts into similar categories unless society explicitly teaches this behavior.
B) Concepts are isolated representations floating around in unstructured semantic memory spaces.
C) People who are from different cultures and speak different languages tend to organize concepts into similar categories.
D) Individual conceptual categories usually vary widely depending on an individual's emotional state.

Question 30

Imagine seeing a hairless cat for the first time. You try to rationalize whether this is in fact a cat, and you reason, "It has four legs, two pointy ears, a pointy nose, and claws; it is probably a cat." This exemplifies the ______.

A) stored network view
B) feature comparisons approach
C) cognitive economy
D) neuroscience-inspired approach

Question 31

"If desserts are a type of food, and pavlova is a type of dessert, then pavlova must be a type of food with all the properties of food." This is an example of what type of relationship?

A) transitive
B) reductionist
C) neural network
D) simplified

Question 32

Why do you think parents tend to use basic-level concepts when speaking to their children?

A) These concepts are easier to differentiate because they do not usually share common shapes and movements.
B) They know that children are not cognitively developed enough to learn more specific categories.
C) These concepts are specific enough to be useful but general enough to avoid confusion.
D) People tend to use basic-level concepts when speaking to those they feel emotionally close to.

Question 33

Which type of organizational approach involves case studies of research subjects who have age-related reasoning deficits?

A) stored network
B) basic level
C) neuroscience-inspired
D) feature comparisons

Question 34

Your aunt introduces you to the small dog she just adopted. In your experience, small dogs usually bark loudly and insistently, so you believe this dog will too. What would a psychologist call this reasoning?

A) theoretical conceptualizing
B) experiential structuring
C) beyond categorization
D) category induction

Question 35

Barsalou (1985) defined the "ideal" as ______.

A) how often an item was considered a member of a category
B) a measure of family resemblance
C) how completely an item fulfilled a goal
D) the least likely item to come to mind when asked to recall an object

Question 36

The game "Family Feud," where the goal is to name the most common object, place, or person in a category, is likely based on ______ concepts.

A) goal-derived
B) basic-level
C) super-level
D) sub-level

Question 37

In picturing a scientist, you may automatically think of a person with a white lab coat, disheveled hair, and glasses. This is an example of a(n) ______.

A) exemplar
B) prototype
C) stereotype
D) definition

Question 38

The idea that concept information is stored at the most efficient level of the hierarchy is known as a ______ economy.

A) super-specialized
B) verification
C) resourceful
D) cognitive

Question 39

Which type of organizational approach was proposed by Collins and Quillian and includes "has," "is," and "can" links?

A) general hierarchical
B) stored network
C) feature comparisons
D) neuroscience based

Question 40

You take a temporary job as a house sitter. The homeowner tells you, "Part of your job will be to feed the animals." You want more specific information, so you ask, "What kind of animals?" To a psychologist, what kind of concept are you asking for?

A) subordinate
B) superordinate
C) basic
D) neuronal

Question 41

The idea that concepts are represented based on a typical instance of that concept is known as the prototype approach.

Question 42

The typicality effect is among the most common empirical findings in cognitive psychology.

Question 43

A person's memory of his or her childhood dog fueling that person's feelings for all future dogs is an example of the exemplar approach.

Question 44

Research has shown that basic-level concepts tend to be privileged over other levels.

Question 45

The definitional approach to concepts proposes that people develop general concepts based on specific examples they have experienced.

Question 46

Discuss the research regarding the way experts process information in their own area of expertise as opposed to areas outside of their expertise. Provide an example.

Question 47

The definitional approach to concepts is the most widely accepted view.

Question 48

Since most of us know that stereotypes can be extremely harmful, why do our brains keep producing them? Explain and provide an example.

Question 49

In your own words, explain why the classical approach of concepts as definitions has fallen out of favor.

Question 50

"The three branches of government" is an example of a set of goal-derived concepts.

Question 51

Research has shown that concepts are typically structured hierarchically.

Question 52

Compare and contrast these organizational approaches to concepts: stored-network and feature comparisons. Give an example of each.

Question 53

The prototype approach is based on abstractions of concepts.

Question 54

Much of what we read or hear in news media reports has to do with the positive outcomes of stereotypes.

Question 55

Distinguish between the prototype and exemplar approaches to concepts. Define and give an example of each.