Categorization Pt 2

Question 1

What are the Three Hierarchical Levels?

Answer 1

• Superordinate Category
• Basic Level Category
• Subordinate Category

Question 2

What is a Superordinate Category

Answer 2

Category members that share few attributes (ie musical instruments, fruits, animals)

Question 3

What is a Basic-Level Category?

Answer 3

Category members that not only share many attributes but also have attributes that differ from other categories (ie guitar, piano)

Question 4

What is a subordinate category?

Answer 4

Category members that share many attributes with members of similar subordinate categories (ie violin, viola, fiddle)

Question 5

Rosch et al

Answer 5

• Asked participants to list the attributes of objects at different levels in the hierarchy
• Analyzed the data by identifying attributes that people seemed to agree were associated with the specific category

Question 6

Results of Rosch et al

Answer 6

• The number of shared attributes increases from the superordinate to the subordinate
• Members of a superordinate category have very few attributes compared to those at the basic level

Question 7

Second Part of Rosch et al

Answer 7

Researchers then asked people to verify the identity of an object at each of the three levels in the hierarchy
- Participants are given specific terms and asked if a picure matched the terms given (ie basic terms were asked if the object was a chair)

Question 8

Results of Second Part of Rosch et al

Answer 8

The fastest verification times occurred for the group that verified objects at the basic level

Question 9

Tanaka & Taylor

Answer 9

Dog experts and bird experts were asked to identify colored pictures of dogs and birds at either the superordinate, basic, or subordinate level

Question 10

Findings of Tanaka & Taylor

Answer 10

1. When classifying the categories they were experts in their subordinate classifications were as fast as their basic classifications
2. A non expert’s subordinate would be an expert’s basic level

Question 11

Rosch & Mervis

Answer 11

• Asked participants to list the attributes of category members
• They then calculated the family resemblance of each category member through counting the number of attributes shared with other category members
• Good representatives = high family resemblance scores

Question 12

Issues with Family Resemblance Scores

Answer 12

• What happens when family resemblance scores are high but there are noticeable differences?
• Ex) Things you would take from your home when on fire

Question 13

Goal-Derived Category

Answer 13

An issue with family resemblance scores where members are selected to satisfy a specified goal instead by physical attributes

Question 14

Prototype Theory

Answer 14

A prototype is an item that represents the category (the average ___)
- Prototypes work well at a basic level but NOT at a superordinate level (it’s difficult to make an average representative of broad categories)

Question 15

How do we learn new examples?

Answer 15

1. Prototype Models
2. Feature Frequency Model
3. Nearest Neighbor Rule

Question 16

Prototype Models

Answer 16

• Some cateogry members are more prototypical of a category than other members

Question 17

Feature Frequency Model

Answer 17

Some category members share features, and people can see how many of its feature values match the feature values of category pattern

Question 18

Nearest Neighbor Rule

Answer 18

Simply remember the examples in a category and compare novel patterns to the examples.

Question 19

Disadvantages of Categorization on People

Answer 19

Once having categorized a person, it is maladaptive to exaggerate the similarity among people in the category, focusing on stereotypic examples of the category