Deck 9: Semantic Organization

Question 1

Bower et al. (1969) gave groups of subjects a list of 112 words to memorize. Which condition resulted in the best performance?

A)hierarchically organized condition
C)semantically organized condition
B)random condition
D)All were equal.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

According to the feature comparison model which of the following variables should not influence categorization?

A)learned associations among concepts
C)defining features
B)characteristic features
D)similarity of concepts

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The hierarchical network model had difficulty explaining

A)the facilitating effects of some decisions on other decisions.
B)the category size effect.
C)the reversal of the category size effect.
D)the slower verification of properties than of categories.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to the hierarchical network model, retrieval of the fact that a salmon eats requires

A)no inferences.
C)two inferences.
B)one inference.
D)four inferences.

Question 5

People with superior memories

A)rely extensively on verbal rehearsal.
B)have learned efficient encoding and retrieval strategies.
C)are genetically endowed.
D)All these

Question 6

Concept is to relation as ____ is to ____.

A)link; node
C)feature; link
B)node; link
D)link; feature

Question 7

Students who learned to build semantic networks were taught two different hierarchical relations labeled

A)part and leads to.
C)characteristics and type.
B)leads to and characteristics.
D)part and type.

Question 8

Students who trained on constructing semantic networks did significantly better than a control group on

A)short-answer and multiple-choice tests.
B)short-answer and essay tests.
C)multiple-choice and essay tests.
D)short-answer, multiple-choice, and essay tests.

Question 9

A guideline for helping students construct semantic networks is to

A)begin with familiar content.
B)use well constructed networks as initial examples.
C)relate information in the text and networks.
D)all of the above.

Question 10

The person who increased his memory span to 70 digits following a year of practice

A)used his knowledge of running times to chunk digits.
B)did not show evidence of hierarchical organization.
C)could generalize from recalling digits to recalling letters.
D)All these

Question 11

Imagine that you performed an experiment and found that people could verify that a whale is an animal more quickly than they could verify that is a mammal. You have demonstrated

A)the category size effect.
C)the typicality effect.
B)the reversal of the category size effect.
D)the failure of the typicality effect.

Question 12

The hierarchical network model is an example of a

A)semantic network model.
C)lexical network model.
B)syntactic network model.
D)orthographic network model.

Question 13

Which of the following models is not based on learned associations among concepts?

A)hierarchical network model
C)spreading activation model
B)feature comparison model
D)none of the above

Question 14

One of the assumptions of feature comparison models is

A)response to verify statements is related to the level at which a feature is stored.
B)defining features are necessary to be a member of that category.
C)Both a and b
D)Neither a nor b

Question 15

Which of the following is a characteristic feature for the category birds?

A)has a beak
C)can fly
B)has wings
D)has feathers

Question 16

Semantic networks and feature comparison models are scientific attempts to explain

A)the organization of meaning in LTM.
B)the interactions between the central executive function and the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
C)trace-decay versus interference effects on forgetting.
D)the organization of meaning in STM.

Question 17

The major difference between the feature comparison model and the hierarchical network model is that

A)in the feature comparison model, the category information is stored directly in memory by means of associations.
B)in the hierarchical network model, the category information is stored directly in memory by means of associations.
C)in the feature comparison model, features are compared serially, but in the hierarchical network model, they are compared in parallel.
D)the feature comparison model is inherently multimodal, but the hierarchical model must rely on abstract symbolic representations.

Question 18

With regard to the hierarchical model, which of the following does not belong?

A)A feature associated with fish is that they have gills.
B)A feature associated with fish is that they have skin.
C)A feature associated with fish is that they swim.
D)A feature associated with fish is that they have fins.

Question 19

Semantic _____ occurs, when making a decision about one concept makes it easier to make a decision about another concept.

A)encoding
C)priming
B)analysis
D)interference

Question 20

The 'category size effect' refers to the finding that people usually

A)make fewer errors in classifying members of smaller categories.
B)make fewer errors in classifying members of larger categories.
C)are faster in classifying members of smaller categories.
D)are faster in classifying members of larger categories.

Question 21

During the second stage of the feature comparison model, people evaluate

A)defining features.
B)characteristic features.
C)Both defining and characteristic features
D)Neither defining nor characteristic features

Question 22

Schank and Abelson propose that our knowledge is organized around many kinds of routine activities referred to as

A)scripts.
C)autobiographical memories.
B)subnodes.
D)hierarchies.

Question 23

Nodes in semantic network models represent

A)concepts.
C)nonhierarchical relations.
B)hierarchical relations.
D)values.

Question 24

Priming occurs in the

A)hierarchical network model.
B)spreading activation model.
C)Both hierarchical network and spreading activation model
D)Neither the hierarchical network nor spreading activation model

Question 25

Meyer and Schvaneveldt discovered that people can more quickly classify the letters BUTTER as a word when it is preceded by the

A)word NURSE.
C)the nonword NART.
B)word BREAD.
D)the nonword TRIEF.

Question 26

Default knowledge refers to

A)the most likely values for attributes of a schema.
B)the least likely values for attributes of a schema.
C)incorrect values for attributes of a schema.
D)correct values for attributes of a schema.

Question 27

Which of the following is not a criticism of the feature comparison model proposed by Smith, Shobin & Rips?

A)It cannot account for reversals of the category size effect.
B)It relies on ratings to make most of its predictions.
C)It proposes that all classifications require computations.
D)It relies on the questionable assumption of defining features.

Question 28

Schema is to ____ as node is to _____.

A)idea; concept
C)general knowledge structure; concept
B)concept; idea
D)general knowledge structure; category

Question 29

The study of scripts and autobiographical memories indicates that the _____of events determines speed of access and the _____ of events facilitates the organization of detailed recall.

A)centrality; temporal organization
B)Centrality; centrality
C)basic; goal-derived categories
D)temporal organization; temporal organization

Question 30

If each of the following word pairs were aligned vertically, with the first word of each pair on top of the other, for which you need likely the MOST response time to judge whether they are semantically related?

A)attic, basement
C)flame, candle
B)nose, mouth
D)lake, boat

Question 31

Which of the following is not an amodal theory?

A)the perceptual symbols model
C)the spreading activation model
B)the feature comparison model
D)theory

Question 32

Which characteristic describes a schema?

A)atomistic
C)generic
B)associationistic
D)passive

Question 33

Which of the following is not an assumption of the spreading activation model? Spreading activation

A)increases in strength over time.
B)decreases in strength as it travels outward.
C)reaches more typical category members before less typical members.
D)causes semantic priming.

Question 34

The feature comparison model correctly predicts that classification time depends more on _____ than on _____.

A)category size; similarity
C)hierarchical level; category size
B)similarity; category size
D)hierarchical level; similarity

Question 35

A resolution between perceptual symbols theory and semantic networks is that

A)both simulate particular cases.
B)both organize hundreds of cases.
C)perceptual symbols simulate particular cases and semantic networks organize hundreds of cases.
D)semantic networks simulate particular cases and perceptual symbols organize hundreds of cases.

Question 36

In a spreading activation model, longer links between apple and green and shorter links between apple and red would indicate

A)that the semantic relatedness is closer for apple and green.
B)that the semantic relatedness is closer for apple and red.
C)that the semantic relatedness is closer for red and green than for red and apple.
D)that the semantic relatedness is closer for red and green than green and apple.

Question 37

In a semantic network,

A)nodes represent concepts, links represent relationships.
B)nodes represent facts, links represent inferences.
C)nodes represent induction, links represent deduction.
D)nodes represent transformations, links represent intervening states.

Question 38

Which of the following does not belong?

A)Knowledge is stored in a semantic network.
B)Activation in the network spreads along nodes activating new nodes and pathways.
C)As the activation spreads, the amount of activation lessens.
D)All activation requires computations to determine category membership.

Question 39

Which is a characteristic of episodic memory rather than autobiographical memory?

A)It tells a story.
C)It often has emotional involvement.
B)It typically lasts for a short time.
D)It consists of many modalities.

Question 40

People should be faster in verifying the property FAUCET-turned after verifying the property

A)SOAP-perfumed
C)ROCK-hurled
B)MARBLE-cool
D)SIGN-green

Question 41

Discuss the spreading activation model. On what does its success depend? What are its limitations?

Question 42

The sequence of events that occur when you go out to a restaurant can be thought of as a script.

Question 43

Compare and contrast schema theory with scripts. Provide everyday examples of each.

Question 44

That it is faster to say a "robin is a bird" than a "chicken is a bird" is a problem for the hierarchical network model.

Question 45

The theoretical construct proposing that activation from one concept to the next is the main construct of the feature comparison model.

Question 46

A list of 100 unorganized words is as easy to remember as a list of 100 words organized in categories.

Question 47

Describe an autobiographic memory that you have. Explain its components in detail and relate these to the differences of an episode memory that you have.

Question 48

Discuss the utility of models of semantic organization and computer science. What do you think some of the applications for these models might be in the future? (Do not use examples from your text.)

Question 49

Apply your knowledge about spreading activation models to the issue of racism. If you were the head of one of the main televisions networks, how could you use your knowledge to counteract racial stereotyping?

Question 50

What are the basic findings with regard to semantic organization? Which model do you find the most intuitive? Why?

Question 51

A semantic network is composed of nodes and relationships among nodes.

Question 52

Schemas are general knowledge structures.

Question 53

Semantic priming is found when people respond more quickly to the word 'wound' after being exposed to the word 'nurse'.

Question 54

Based on what you now know about the organization of information in memory, discuss why false memories are relatively easy to create. Give an example (that was not given in your text or in class) of stimuli that would likely generate a false memory.

Question 55

Nodes are theoretical constructs representing relations in a semantic network.

Question 56

Maximal activity in the visual cortex occurred before participants pressed a button indicating that they had retrieved an autobiographical memory.

Question 57

Discuss how later theorists adapted and built upon Bartlett's schema theory.

Question 58

The perceptual symbols model is an amodal approach.

Question 59

What is the main distinction between the Perceptual Symbols Model and the Spreading Activation Model? Which model do you think accounts for the data better? Why?

Question 60

Compare and contrast the hierarchical network model with the spreading activation model.