Deck 8: Categorization

Question 1

In an experiment by Rosch, subjects were asked to quickly verify whether an object was a member of either a subordinate, a basic, or a superordinate category. Fastest verification times occurred for

A)subordinate categories.
B)basic categories.
C)superordinate categories.
D)Verification times did not differ across categories.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Concept identification is

A)a task that requires deciding whether an item is an example of a concept.
B)a task based on natural categories.
C)a task that discriminates between prototype and feature frequency models.
D)a task based on category hierarchies.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which consequence of categorization was not mentioned by Bruner, Goodnow, and Austin? Categorization

A)reduces the complexity of the environment.
B)is the means by which objects of the world are identified.
C)increases the need for learning.
D)allows us to select an appropriate action.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Siamese is to cat as _____ category is to _____ category.

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

Question 5

Rosch has argued that categories are most differentiated at the

A)subordinate level.
C)superordinate level.
B)basic level.
D)None of these

Question 6

The concept identification paradigm has been criticized on the basis that

A)it is highly artificial.
B)it classifies objects on the basis of discrete values.
C)it assumes that all members of the category are equally good.
D)All these

Question 7

At which level in Rosch's taxonomy would the word Vehicle belong?

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

Question 8

The finding that people rate some even numbers as better examples than other even numbers indicates that

A)categories cannot be defined by rules.
B)rules don't exist for continuous dimensions.
C)people don't know the rule for even numbers.
D)members of rule-defined categories can differ in representativeness.

Question 9

According to Rosch and Mervis, the most typical members of a category

A)have the same attributes as the least typical members.
B)share attributes with other members of the same category.
C)share attributes with members of other categories.
D)belong to many other categories.

Question 10

Rosch and Mervis used their family resemblance measure to explain typicality differences in

A)concept identification tasks.
C)natural categories.
B)goal-derived categories.
D)All these

Question 11

Disjunctive is to _____ as conjunctive is to _____.

A)or; and
C)either; or
B)and; or
D)or; either

Question 12

An average pattern (prototype) cannot be formed at which level?

A)subordinate
C)superordinate
B)basic
D)It can be formed at all levels.

Question 13

Natural categories differ from concept-identification tasks because

A)their members are not equally good representatives of the category.
B)they may be defined along continuous dimensions.
C)they are often hierarchically organized.
D)All these

Question 14

Members of the same basic category

A)have no attributes in common.
C)have many attributes in common.
B)have few attributes in common.
D)have all attributes in common.

Question 15

Bruner, Goodnow, and Austin proposed that people solve concept identification tasks by

A)memorizing all the positive instances of the category.
B)creating category prototypes.
C)forming and evaluating hypotheses.
D)All these

Question 16

Barsalou has shown that goal-derived categories are organized around

A)prototypes.
C)family resemblances.
B)ideals.
D)overlapping features.

Question 17

Experts differ from novices in their ability to make rapid classifications in their field of expertise at the

A)subordinate level.
C)superordinate level.
B)basic level.
D)None of these

Question 18

Category members share few attributes if they belong to either

A)superordinate or goal-derived categories.
C)subordinate or superordinate categories.
B)subordinate or basic categories.
D)basic or goal-derived categories.

Question 19

Real world (natural) categories can be characterized as

A)having some members being more typical than others.
B)discrete.
C)sharing identical attributes.
D)All these

Question 20

Which type of water was judged to be most typical?

A)pure water
C)bottled water
B)drinking water
D)rain water

Question 21

An advantage of defining clinical diagnosis by a large number of overlapping features is that it encourages clinicians to

A)seek a second opinion.
B)provide more time during therapy.
C)consider individual differences when treating patients.
D)give more diagnostic tests.

Question 22

The prototype model was found to be a better predictor of categorization when the information was _____ while feature frequency model was the better predictor when the information was _____.

A)continuous; discrete
C)the average; the median
B)discrete; continuous
D)the median; the average

Question 23

The diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association distinguishes among different clinical categories by listing

A)several unique features for each category.
B)a large number of overlapping features for each category.
C)several examples for each category.
D)a large number of examples for each category.

Question 24

Which of the following does not belong?

A)nearest-neighbor rule
C)average distance rule
B)feature frequency rule
D)conjunctive rule

Question 25

Which dimension would be the most difficult to represent in a prototype model?

A)eye separation
C)nose length
B)age
D)marital status

Question 26

Which is most useful for predicting the typicalities of members in common taxonomic categories but not as useful in predicting typicalities in goal-driven categories?

A)nearest neighbor
C)family resemblance
B)person perception
D)average distance

Question 27

Stereotypes are based on

A)goal-derived categories.
C)natural categories.
B)social categories.
D)rule-defined categories.

Question 28

The following are members of a ____ category: tent, back-pack, hiking boots.

A)natural
C)rule-defined
B)goal-derived
D)feature

Question 29

Which categorization model proposes that a person compares a test pattern to all the category patterns in order to find the pattern that is most similar to the test pattern?

A)Average Distance model
C)Prototype model
B)Nearest Neighbor model
D)Feature Frequency model

Question 30

Decline in the ability to match pictures and words (semantic dementia) occurs most slowly at which categorization level?

A)superordinate or general level
C)subordinate or specific level
B)basic level
D)All levels are equal.

Question 31

Which theories propose that people use abstracted information to classify patterns?

A)prototype and feature frequency theories
B)prototype and average distance theories
C)feature frequency and nearest neighbor theories
D)average distance and nearest neighbor theories

Question 32

An example of a causal explanation is that blurred vision (initial cause) causes headaches (intermediate cause) which causes insomnia (terminal effect). Judged category membership was lowest when

A)the initial cause was missing.
C)the terminal effect was missing.
B)the intermediate cause was missing.
D)all had an equal influence.

Question 33

Which theory has been most successful in predicting how people classify patterns consisting of feature values that do not vary continuously along a dimension?

A)Average Distance model
C)Prototype model
B)Nearest Neighbor model
D)Feature Frequency model

Question 34

In the study of categorization, a prototype is

A)a mock-up, or test version formed when a new category is initially being formed.
B)the average example of a member of the category.
C)an unusual member of the category.
D)the first member learned for the category.

Question 35

Research on person perception has found that people are fastest in recalling specific instances that are

A)consistent with tested personality traits.
B)inconsistent with tested personality traits.
C)consistent with self-described personality traits.
D)inconsistent with self-described personality traits.

Question 36

Which model was a good predictor for classifying people when attributes, such as marital status, do not differ along continuous dimensions?

A)nearest neighbor
C)feature frequency
B)prototype
D)average distance

Question 37

Rehder and Ross found that it is easier for people to classify coherent examples because they can use their prior knowledge of

A)category hierarchies.
C)category stereotypes.
B)how features go together.
D)social categories.

Question 38

A disadvantage of categorization is the creation of stereotypes by exaggerating

A)within-category similarity.
C)between-category similarity.
B)within-category dissimilarity.
D)between-category dissimilarity.

Question 39

One consistent research finding concerning natural categorization is that

A)people tend to emphasize features that provide causal explanations.
B)the relations among features are important.
C)natural categories are hierarchically organized.
D)All these

Question 40

After learning schematic faces, which category strategy did students use most often?

A)nearest neighbor
C)feature frequency
B)prototype
D)average distance

Question 41

Given what you have learned about concept formation and categorization, apply this knowledge to the issue of racism and stereotyping confronting society.

Question 42

'Small and square' is an example of a disjunctive rule.

Question 43

Typicality is a measure of how well a category member fits the basic level representation.

Question 44

Hierarchically organized concept categories are not representative of natural categories.

Question 45

Expert dog breeders are as quick to identify subordinate members as they are at identifying basic-level members.

Question 46

Discuss the major characteristics of natural categories. Include some empirical evidence in your response.

Question 47

Given the evidence presented in your text (i.e., about the underlying brain basis of categorization), do you predict that one dominant method of categorization will be found? Provide research support for your response.

Question 48

Goal-derived categories are selected based on shared attributes.

Question 49

Discuss the concept of basic level categorization. What evidence is there to support the hypothesis about its importance?

Question 50

A good example of a superordinate category might be 'animal'.

Question 51

Categorizing objects reduces the complexity of the environment.

Question 52

What are the benefits of forming cognitive categories? (Five were given in your text.)

Question 53

The formation of categories is clearly beneficial when it comes to understanding our physical world. However, this is not necessarily true for our social world. Discuss.

Question 54

Why would a person with semantic dementia be more likely to be able to categorize a dog as an animal rather than as a mammal?

Question 55

A piano is a good example of a basic-level category.

Question 56

Basic-level categories are those that are at the bottom of the category hierarchy.

Question 57

Compare and contrast the prototype model and the feature frequency model of category formation.

Question 58

Concept identification has been thought of by some as being accomplished by evaluating hypotheses.

Question 59

Explain the difference between family resemblance of categories and goal-derived categories. Why aren't family resemblance categories useful for predicting typicality for goal-derived categories?

Question 60

Why are concept-identification tasks more difficult to perform than tasks that provide disjunctive or conjunctive rules?