Exam 3 Flashcards
(46 cards)
ch.8
Semantic memory / Knowlege
Is general knowledge
We don’t need experience to remember them
Historical events, school knowledge, definitions
most cognitive activity is influenced by it
the general information that one has acquired; that is, knowledge that is not tied to any specific object, event, domain, or application.
Definitional approach
Has a checklist of features
Assumes sharp boundaries
what is a square? easy to define
what is a game? harder to define
definitions of categories only works with some things
to many varieties and exceptions to work
categories approach
Concept:
All items are NOT equally represented as a category
Catagories have a graded structure
sophisticates the way you categorize knowledge
not just facts and definitions
without categories, everything would be brand new
Is a set of objects that belong together.
If something belongs to a category it initially gives you a lot of info about it.
A mental representation of a category
each example has at least one attribute in common with some other example of the concept
Prototype Approach
“the ideal representative”
prototypes are good for forming concepts from “loosely structured” groups/categories
prototype approach—Stored representation is a typical/idealized member of the category.
We form concepts by using prototypes
An item that is the best, most typical example of a category
When making a decision about whether something belongs in a particular category, you use the prototype as the comparison
most prototypical ———— least prototypical
context matters (bat,bat) current events like 911 they shift with time and trends
Typicality Effect
Prototypical items are most likely recalled
When judging whether an item belongs to a category, more typical items are judged faster than atypical items
Sentence verification task
key characteristics of prototypes
True or False:
Robins are birds.
Penguins are birds.
Result: people make faster decisions with more prototypical subjects
WHY? Because robins share more features with prototypical birds than penguins do
Levels of Categorization
Our semantic categories are structured in terms of different levels of categorization…
superordinate-level categories (utensil) lose info
(higher-level, more general)
basic-level categories (fork)
(moderately specific)
subordinate-level categories (salad fork) gain info
(lower-level, more specific)
basic-level categories
We tend to use basic level categories when naming items
Different levels of categorization tend to activate different brain regions
PET scans pg.164
superordinate: prefrontal
(toy) more likely than basic-level term “doll” to activate prefrontal region (associative memory about category membership)
subordinate: parietal
(“rag doll”) more likely than basic-level term “doll” to activate parietal region (visual search—looking at details to determine whether it fits “rag doll” category)
Exemplar Approach
exemplar approach—Stored representation is a collection of numerous specific members of the category. (specific examples)
*Both approaches compare a new item against a stored representation of the category
we use both approaches; a concept can include info about both prototypes and specific exemplars
How we form types of concepts like prototypes
Our concepts consist of separate representations of experienced examples of a category—exemplars
Affected by how much semantic knowledge you have on a topic or concept (expertise)
helpful in smaller categories
don’t have to discard individual/unique details
Schema - Idea of typical
pre-existing knowledge structure in memory
their own view of the world, in terms of existing knowledge and prior experience, to frame events
expectations about what will happen
pockets of knowledge for what usually happens
Script
Knowlege structure - a general idea of experience/organization of it
knowledge about familiar situations/things
so you know how to act or do something
Is a mechanism for solving problems.
EX: What does the inside of a hardware store look like
A trip to the beach…
What does a flight attendant do?
EX:churches are typically formal/respectful places
narrow type of schema
a simple, well-structured sequence of events
EX: what do we need to do/act at a church?
going to school and the series of events that occur
can recall more detail when having a script upfront
Heuristic
Problem-solving approaches based on previous experience and influence.
A general rule - typically accurate
Is a mechanism for solving problems.
Schema theories
SELF SCHEMA:
How we define ourselves
Our memories encode “generic” information about a situation
We then use this information to understand and remember new examples of the schema
useful for social cues and situations
How we define ourselves is based on our own life experience/interpretation of ourselves.
Famous schema study (office)
showing how schemas can drive our memry.
The tendency to supply schema-consistent items was even greater after a two-day delay.
reconstruction error
however, we sometimes show better recall for material that violates our expectations. (especially vivid and surprising or interrupted the normal)
Boundry Extention
Memory illusion created by schemas
we tend to remember having viewed a greater portion of a scene than was originally shown
Partial view activates schema
Illustrates top-down schematic knowledge in memory
Bransford and Johnson (1972) experiment
The role of context
context plays a big role in understanding and interpreting information
Shown story — how much can you remember 15-23%
We can remember more if given a reference photo (a man holding a boombox floating on balloons with love) 60%
If provided with a schema in advance they remember almost everything from the story.
Reveal how important schemas are for our memory!
Ch.12
Deductive reasoning
A specific type of decision-making
AKA: logical reasoning
Given a set of premises (statements), can you draw a particular conclusion?
propositional reasoning task
Propositional calculus
Afferming – Anticdnt – Valid
Aferming – Consequent – invalid
Denying – Anticdnt – Invalid
Denying – Consequent – Valid
One of the most common types of deductive reasoning or Conditional reasoning
involves the relationship between two conditions:
If ………. then ………
Judge whether the conclusion is valid or invalid
Anchoring and Adjustment heuristic
Suggests that we favor the first bit of information we learn.
once number is set, it affects how we look ahead.
Example question: A study has shown that 77 percent of entrepreneurs in charge of failed start-ups believed–before the failure–that their company would grow into a successful business. After they failed, only 58 percent said they had originally believed their company would be a success
Belief-Bias Effect
An error in reasoning that occurs when people make judgments based on prior beliefs and general knowledge, rather than on the rules of logic.
EX: if a feather is thrown at a window it will break
we take our previous beliefs that a father is too light to do this so it could never be true.
Our own background knowledge sometimes encourages us to make mistakes on reasoning tasks
Everyday knowledge can override principles of logic
Trouble ignoring background knowledge
An outcome may be true (or false) “in the world” but not match up with rules of logic
Confirmation bias
look to confirm opinion
Preference for confirming beliefs rather than disproving
only want to see evidence that confirms
Forget that we need to deny the consequent.
effects memory and recall
Example question: Alicia is a big believer in extrasensory perception (ESP). As evidence of her ESP abilities, Alicia keeps close track of instances when she was “thinking about Mom, and then the phone rang and it was Mom!”
Yet, Alicia ignores the far more numerous times when: (a) She was thinking about Mom and Mom didn’t call; and (b) She was not thinking about Mom and Mom did call.
Representative heuristic
Base-rate fallacy:
Make a representation of likelihood
Put things into defining categories or stereotypes
EX: (likes to read) is it more likely they are a weighted or a librarian?
EX: most accidents occur within 5 miles of home.
Ignore statistic info and rely on representative knowledge.
Type one processing
Type two processing
Fast and automatic response
use heuristics
slow and controlled response
effortful and rational
used to correct errors
Heuristics used in decision making
3 Heuristics pg.268
Representativeness
Availability
Anchoring & Adjustment
small sample fallacy
Assuming that a small sample is representative of the population.
this leads to things like racism
rely on stereotypical assumptions
