Flashcards in Chapter 9 Deck (46):
1
anterior temporal lobe
(ATL) area in the temporal love. Damage to the ATL has been connected with semantic deficits in dementia patients and with the savant syndrome
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back propagation
process by which learning can occur in a connectionist network, in which an error signal is transmitted backwards through the network. This backward-transmitted error signal provides the information needed to adjust the weights in the network to achieve the correct output signal for a stimulus
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basic level
in Rosch's categorization scheme, the level below the global (superordinate) level (e.g., "table" or "chair" for the superordinate category "furniture"). According to Rosch, the basic level is psychologically special because it is the level above which much information is lost and below which little is gained
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categorization
process by which objects are placed in categories
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category
groups of objects that belong together because they belong to the same class of objects, such as "houses", "furniture", or "schools"
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category-specific memory impairment
result of brain damage in which the patient has trouble recognizing objects in a specific category
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cognitive economy
feature of some semantic network models in which properties of a category that are shared by many members of a category are stored at a higher-level node in the network. For example, the property "can fly" would be stored at the node for "bird" rather than at the node for "canary"
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concept
mental representation of a class of individual. Also, the meaning of objects, events, and abstract ideas. An example of a concept would be the way a person mentally represents "cat" or "house".
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conceptual knowledge
knowledge that enables people to recognize objects and events and to make inferences about their properties
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connection weight
in connectionist models, a connection weight determines the degree to which signals sent from one unit either indrease or decrease the activity of the next unit
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connectionism
network model of mental operation that proposes that concepts are represented in networks that are modeled after neural networks. This approach to describing the mental representation of concepts is also called the parallel distributed processing (PDP) approach
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connectionist network
type of network proposed by the connectionist approach to the representation of concepts. Connectionist networks are based on neural networks but are not necessarily identical to them. One of the key properties of a connectionist network is that a specific category is represented by activity that is distributed over many units in the network. This contrasts with semantic networks, in which specific categories are represented ar individual nodes.
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crowding
animals tend to share many properties, such as eyes, legs, and the ability to move. This is relevant to the multiple-factor approach to the representation of concepts in the brain.
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definitional approach to categorization
the idea that we can decide whether something is a member of a category by determining whether the object meets the definition of the category
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embodied approach
proposal that our knowledge of concepts is based on reactivation of sensory and motor processes that occur when we interact with an object
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error signal
during learning in a connectionist network, the difference between the output signal generated by a particular stimulus and the output that actually represents that stimulus
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exemplar
in categorization, members of a category that a person has experienced in the past
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exemplar approach to categorization
the approach to categorization in which members of a category are judged against exemplars - examples of members of the category that the person has encountered in the past
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family resemblance
in considering the process of categorization, the idea that things in a particular category resemble each other in a number of ways. This approach can be contrasted with the definitional approach, which states that an object belongs to a category only when it meets a definite set of criteria
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global level
the highest level in Rosch's categorization scheme (e.g. "furniture" or "vehicles"
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graceful degradation
disruption of performance due to damage to a system that occurs only gradually as parts of the system re damaged. This occurs in some cases of brain damage and also when parts of a connectionist network are damaged
22
hidden units
units in a connectionist network that are located between input units are output units
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hierarchical model
as applied to knowledge representation, a model that consists of levels arranged so that more specific concepts, such as canary or salmon, are at the bottom and more general concepts, such as bird, fish, or animal, are at higher levels
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hierarchical organization
organization of categories in which larger, more general categories are divided into smaller, more specific categories. These smaller categories can, in turn, be divided into even more specific categories to create a number of levels
25
hub and spoke model
model of semantic knowledge that proposes that areas of the brain that are associated with different functions are connected to the anterior temporal lobe, which integrates information from these areas
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input units
units in a connectionist network that are activated by stimulation from the environment
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lexical decision task
procedure in which a person is asked to decide as quickly as possible whether a particular stimulus is a word or a nonword
28
mirror neurons
neurons in the premotor cortex, originally discovered in the monkey, that respond both when a monkey observes someone else (usually the experimenter) carrying out an action and when the monkey itself carries out the action. there is also evidence for mirror neurons in humans
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multiple-factor approach
seeking to describe how concepts are represented in the brain by searching for multiple factors that determine how concepts are divided up within a category
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output units
units in a connectionist network that contain the final output of the network
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parallel distribution processing (PDP)
see connectionism; connectionist network
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prototype
a standard used in categorization that is fromed by averaging the category members a person has encountered in the past
33
prototype approach to categorization
the idea that we decide whether something is a member of a category by determining whether it is similar to a standard representation of the category, called a prototype
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semantic category approach
an approach to describing how semantic information is represented in the brain that proposes that there are specific neural circuits for some specific categories
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semantic dementia
condition in which there is a general loss of knowledge for all concepts
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semantic network approach
an approach to understanding how concepts are organized in the mind that proposes that concepts are arranged in networks
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semantic somatotopy
correspondence between words related to specific parts of the body and the location of brain activity associated with that part of the body
38
sensory-function (S-F) hypothesis
explanation of how semantic information is represented in the brain tha states that the ability to differentiate living things and artifacts depend on one system that distinguishes sensory attributes and another system that distinguishes function
39
sentence verification technique
a technique in which the participant is asked to indicate whether a particular sentence is true or false. For example, sentences like "an apple is a fruit" have been used in studies on categorization
40
specific levels
in Rosch's categorization scheme, the level below the basic level (e.g. "kitchen table" for the basic category "table")
41
spreading activation
activity that spreads out along any link in a semantic network that is connected to an activated node.
42
subordinate (specific) level
the most specific category level distinguished by Rosch - for example, "kitchen table"
43
superordinate (global) level
the most general category level distinguished by Rosch - for example, "furniture"
44
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
a procedure in which magnetic pulses are applied to the skull in order to illustrate the process involved in means-end analysis
45
typicality effect
the ability to judge the truth or falsity of sentences involving high-prototypical members of a category more rapidly than sentences involving low-prototypical members of a category
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