5 concepts + semantic memory

• What is the prototype approach?

  A method for categorizing concepts
• What is the exemplar approach?

  A method comparing new stimuli with stored instances
• What is the knowledge-based approach?

  Understanding relationships between features and attributes
• How does general knowledge (GK) relate to crystallized intelligence?

  GK is an important component of crystallized intelligence
• What is semantic memory?

  Memory for general knowledge and language
• What is a concept?

  A mental representation of a category
• Why are concepts efficient?

  They help focus on similarities among objects
• What is the problem with defining concepts by essential features?

  Some concepts have fuzzy boundaries
• What is the prototype model?

  An abstract idealized representation of a category
• What are characteristic features in the prototype model?

  Commonly present but not necessary features
• How does typicality affect categorization?

  Items differ in their prototypicality
• What is the typicality effect?

  Faster verification of typical category members
• What is family resemblance in categorization?

  Members share attributes or features
• What are goal-derived categories?

  Categories with little family resemblance
• What is a prototype for abstract concepts like friendship?

  Prototypical features of friendship intimacy
• How does the exemplar approach categorize new stimuli?

  By comparing with stored exemplars
• What influences our knowledge of concepts?

  Relationships between features and attributes
• How do schemas help us understand situations?

  They form expectations and predictions
• What is the role of scripts in memory?

  They help understand everyday events
• What did Brewer and Treyens (1981) study demonstrate?

  Participants recalled schematic objects from a room
• How do stereotypes function as schemas?

  They simplify generalizations about groups
• What is stereotype stability?

  Stereotypes are flexible and context-dependent
• What are the types of schemas?

  • Social schemas: general social knowledge
  • Person schemas: knowledge about individuals
  • Self-schemas: knowledge about oneself
  • Role schemas: behaviors in situations
  • Event schemas (scripts): sequences of events
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of schemas?

  Strengths:

  • Help understand situations
  • Form expectations and predictions
  • Prevent cognitive overload

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Can cause errors in memory
  • May lead to misperception
• What is the summary of concepts and schemas?

  • Concepts aid interaction with the world
  • Various theories explain their nature
  • Schemas and scripts are broader than concepts
  • They can prevent cognitive overload but cause errors
• How do concepts differ from schemas?

  Concepts are narrower than schemas
• How do implicit measures like IAT differ from explicit measures?

  Implicit measures are less influenced by bias
• What did Kreiner et al. (2008) find about gender schema?

  Participants fixated longer on pronouns in sentences
• What did Garcia-Marques et al. (2006) reveal about stereotype activation?

  Stereotype activation varies over time
• How does the spreading activation model explain semantic memory organization?

  Activation spreads based on semantic relatedness
• What is the typicality effect?

  Statements about prototypical objects are rapidly verified to show category membership
• How do concepts influence communication?

  They convey information about ourselves and the world
• How do schemas influence memory recall?

  They affect what is noticed and remembered