Chapter 9 Vocabulary Flashcards
(35 cards)
A process by which learning can occur in a connectionist network, in which an error signal is transmitted backward 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.
Back propagation
In Rosch’s categorization scheme, the level below the global (superordinate) level. According to Rosch, this level is psychologically special because it is the level above which much information is lost and below which little is gained.
Basic level
The process by which objects are placed into categories
Categorization
Group of objects that belong together because they belong to the same class of objects such as “houses” “furniture” or “schools”
Category
A result of brain damage in which the patient has trouble recognizing objects in a specific category
Category-specific knowledge impairment
A 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”
Cognitive economy
A mental representation for a variety of cognitive functions, including memory, reasoning, and using and understanding language. An example would be the way a person mentally represents “cat” or “house”
Concept
In connectionist models, this determines the degree to which signals sent form one unit either increase or decrease the activity of the next unit
Connection weight
A 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.
Connectionism
The type of network proposed by the connectionist approach to the representation of concepts. Based on neural networks, but are not necessarily identical to them. One of the key properties 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 at individual nodes
Connectionist network
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
Definitional approach to categorization
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
Error signal
In categorization, members of a category that a person has experienced in the past
Exemplar
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.
Exemplar approach to categorization
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.
Family resemblance
The highest level in Rosch’s categorization scheme (e.g., “furniture” or “vehicles”).
Global (superordinate) level
Disruption of performance due to damage to a system that occurs only gradually as parts of the system are damaged. This occurs in some cases of brain damage and also when parts of a connectionist network are damaged.
Graceful degradation
Units in a connectionist network that are located between input units and output units
Hidden units
As applied to network models of knowledge representation, a model that consists of levels arranged so that more specific concepts, like canary or salmon, are at the bottom and more general concepts, such as bird, fish, or animal are at higher levels
Hierarchical model
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.
Hierarchical organization
A category member that closely resembles the category prototype.
High prototypicality
Units in a connectionist network that are activated by stimulation from the enviornment
Input units
A procedure in which a person is asked to decide as quickly as possible whether a particular stimulus is a word or a nonword
Lexical decision task
A category member that does not closely resemble the category prototype
Low prototypicality
