Categorisation

Question 1

The induction of concepts that divide items into classes according to their shared properties (categorisation)
is known as?

Answer 1

Concept Formation

Question 2

Concepts are not always defined by specific features and sometimes do not have necessary or sufficient features.
e.g. What is the defining feature of a game?

These concepts are known as……..
as they don’t have 1 or 2 defining features

Answer 2

Polymorphous Concepts

Question 2

Name the 3 types of Categorical Concepts:

Answer 2

Basic level concept
Superordinate concept
Abstract concept

Question 2

Which Categorical Concept is based on perceptual similarity (e.g., bird, flower)?

Answer 2

Basic level concept

Question 2

What are the 2 main theories of basic level concept formation?
(based on perceptual similarity)

Answer 2

Exemplar theory: Learn about (store) every instance independently.
Classify novel exemplars via similarity to learned instances

Prototype theory: Learn about (store) abstract prototype corresponding to central tendency of training exemplars.

Question 2

Which Categorical Concept does not refer to individual entity, but to some property, relation or state (e.g., sameness, truth)?

Answer 2

Abstract concept

Question 2

Basic level concept formation in animals:

Answer 2

Birds had formed “concept” of flowers, cars, people & chairs
However, performance more accurate with the training stimuli (80%)
than with the novel, test stimuli (60%).

Question 3

Which theory of basic level concept formation argues that we learn about (store) every instance independently?

Answer 3

Exemplar theory

so birds store all these stimuli individually

Question 3

Which Categorical Concept are groups of basic level concepts not based on perceptual similarity (e.g. politician, tools)?

Answer 3

Superordinate concept

Question 3

Predicts classifying /testing on a novel item as always worse than one you have seen before. It is never going to be like the actual stimuli you have seen so it is harder to establish.

This is a prediction of which theory?

Answer 3

Exemplar theory

Question 3

Which theory of basic level concept formation argues that we learn about (store) abstract prototypes corresponding to central tendency of training exemplars?

Answer 3

Prototype theory

birds store all these stimuli in one form, using up less memory space/capacity

Question 3

Predicts classifying/testing on a novel item can be better than one you have seen before – it may be the … you stored! you can link that P to multiple new items which are similar.

This is a prediction of which theory?

Answer 3

Prototype theory

Question 4

In the basic concept level experiment, birds stored information about training exemplars and were more accurate with them than the novel test stimuli.

Their performance could be explained by which theory?

This is more consistent with prototype theory … not exemplar theory

Answer 4

Exemplar theory

Question 5

The earlier assumption was that animals used the … approach and humans used the … approach:

Answer 5

Animals= Exemplar
Humans= Prototype

Question 6

Aydin & Pearce, 1994. The prototype effect in pigeons:

Did a lab experiment of programming pigeons on a laboratory prototype

Step 1 CREATE a prototype

Answer 6

Artificial positives (followed by food) ABC
and negative prototypes DEF

Question 6

Whittlesea, 1987:
What would be the expected outcome if they have learned:
a) prototype
b) exemplar

Answer 6

If they have learned prototype, Lists 1, 2 and 3 equally similar to prototype should be equally good at categorising Lists 1, 2 and 3

If they have learned exemplars in List 1 should be easiest (studied),
then List 2 (differs a little from List 1) and then List 3 (differs a lot from List 1) HUMANS

p= List 1 = List2 = List 3
e= List 1 > List 2 > List 3

Question 6

Conclusion:

Both humans and animals retain information about the
training items/exemplars (consistent with exemplar theory) but
show the prototype effect (consistent with prototype theory).

Which third theory is introduced?

Answer 6

Feature theory

-A variation of E exemplar theory can explain the prototype effect!

Question 6

How were the birds trained in Aydin & Pearce’s, 1994 lab experiment? The prototype effect in pigeons:

Answer 6

The birds trained on three-element displays, created by distorting the prototypes (swapping one prototype element for one from the other category):

Question 6

Aydin & Pearce’s, 1994 lab experiment? The prototype effect in pigeons:

Birds taught the three positive patterns always paired with food, the three negative patterns were not.
Birds pecked more at which type of pattern?

Then tested with training patterns and the prototypes….
the test of prototype theory is whether they are more accurate with prototype they have never experienced

Answer 6

Pecked more at the positive patterns

Specifically prototype ABC than to any of the positive patterns, and less to the negative prototype, DEF, than to any of the negative patterns during extinction

Question 7

How can exemplar theory explain the prototype effect?

Links to why the birds peck most at the positive prototype (associated with food which can identify other novel stimuli).

Answer 7

When shown the training prototype, the birds learn to associate each of the different component blocks of the prototype with food, rather than all of the components as a whole with food.

So when they see a new prototype with the learnt exemplar components they pair it together and response faster/ more accurate

Examine learning about each component feature of the positive trained exemplar

Question 7

Which theory of basic level concept formation takes in account of both exemplar theory (assumes each stimulus comprises a set of component features, that are more or less associated with category membership here food/no food) and the outcome of a prototype effect?

Answer 7

Feature theory

They both say you store something about the stimuli on each trial

Exemplar theory – WHOLE stimulus to stored examplars

Feature theory – sharing FEATURES with stored exemplars

Question 8

One way to check if associative learning is involved is by checking for?

Answer 8

Blocking:
pairing only produces association between X and Category if Category surprising.

Question 8

Checking for associative learning: Blocking

Experiment by Shanks (1990; cf. Gluck and Bower,1988)
Subjects given trials in which medical symptoms paired with a disease diagnosis

Subjects must predict disease from symptom

	Symptom=disease association

Which does headache predict more – flu or NA?

Answer 8

24 runny nose = flu 6 runny nose & headache = flu
strong association weak association

6 rash = NA 6 rash & headache = NA !!!!

so flu less surprising when paired with headache than NA is when paired with headache = poorer learning about flu

Associative theory predicts that, given headache, subjects will be
more likely to choose rare NA than common flu (surprise important)

Nonassociative account predicts that, given headache, subjects will be
just as likely to predict flu as NA (pairings important

Question 8

Explain how categories could form by means of associative learning:

Answer 8

features of category are associated with the category label:

		Features → Category

Question 9

Checking for associative learning: Blocking

Experiment by Shanks (1990; cf. Gluck and Bower,1988)
Subjects given trials in which medical symptoms paired with a disease diagnosis

The findings suggest that headache was paired more with NA disease than Flu (surprise).
Which account/ theory does this align with?

Answer 9

Associative theory

(given headache, subjects will be more likely to choose rare NA than common flu as surprise is important)

Question 10

Which categories have members that are not necessarily physically similar to each other, but share a common associate?

Answer 10

Superordinate level concept formation:
Superordinate categories

Question 11

Superordinate level concept formation:

Pigeons trained with slides of people, chairs, cars and flowers

The birds reinforced for making Response 1 to either people or chairs, and for making Response 2 to either cars and flowers.
people and chairs in one category, cars and flowers in another

Then made Response 3 to people, and Response 4 to cars
tested chairs and flowers, with choice of Response 3 & Response 4
Would they also make Response 3 to chairs & Response 4 to flowers?
Results showed:

Answer 11

Found that Pigeons generalised one of each pair of stimuli to the other due to being grouped together on the first stages of training.

Question 11

The finding that Pigeons generalised one of each pair of stimuli to the other due to being grouped together on the first stages of training is an example of Superordinate level concept formation. What other type of learning can this concept be confused with?

Answer 11

Associative learning

Question 12

Birds formed which type of category when they treat people and chairs as equivalent because both paired with the same response in the first phase?

Answer 12

superordinate category

Question 13

Abstract concept formation in animals:
The same from different

Pigeons shown complex stimulus displays, and given a choice of
a red and a green key. Can they form an abstract concept?

Answer 13

Yaaas

Question 13

Birds shown a sample key e.g. red; then given a choice of red and green. Must peck the same colour as the sample:
– i.e. red. On other trials the bird gets a green sample; then task is to peck the green comparison.

Match-to-sample technique (MTS) is used to establish if animals know what?

Answer 13

Abstract concept formation in animals:
The same from different