Memory and Cognition Final

• conceptual knowledge


  enables us to recognize objects/events and make inferences about them
• concept


  mental representation
• categorization


  how we place things into groups

  - all possible examples of a concept

  - mental grouping of "what" things are
• why is categorization useful?

  it allows us to act on the world in ways we couldn't w/o it
• how do we categorize things?


  definitional approach

  prototype approach

  exemplar approach
• definitional/rule approach


  use defining features

  all or none membership

  - problems= what is defining feature, typicality effects, fuzzy boundaries
• prototype approach


  abstraction based on characteristic features

  - generate an "average" category member based on what we've encountered before; compare new items to prototype

  - typicality effects but rating vary by context
• exemplar approach


  no abstractions; compare new item to all instances of stored examples

  - representing not defining

  - no abstract representation
• how do we organize our concepts/categories?

  - hierarchically (global, basic, specific)

  - feature comparison model

  - connectionist approach
• how are concepts represented in the brain?

  - sensory-functional hypothesis

  - multiple-factor approach

  - semantic category approach

  - embodied approach
• category size effect


  verifying concept as member of a larger category takes longer than as a member of a smaller category

  - chihuahua= animal greater than dog

  - basic is privileged
• cognitive economy


  properties stored at highest level
• hierarchical semantic networks


  node= category/concept

  - concepts are linked
• lexical decision variant


  deciding if something is a word or not
• feature comparison model


  concepts represented as feature lists: defining and characteristic features

  - knowledge retrieval= accessing and comparing feature lists

  - knowledge is set of feature lists and we make judgements based on them
• connectionism


  knowledge= activity distributed across many units

  - parallel distributed processing

  - computer models to represent cognitive processes
• sensory-functional hypothesis


  differentiation of living things vs artifacts depends on system distinguishes sensory (animals and fruit) and function (artifacts and tools) of each
• category-specific memory impairment


  can't identify on type of object but can identify other types of objects
• typicality effects


  ability to judge highly prototypical objects more rapidly
• graceful degradation


  performance disruption is gradual as the damage

  - only partial disruption of function at first
• multiple factor approach


  distributed representation theory focusing on searching for attributes that determine division of concepts within a category

  - crowding of sharing many properties so animals are harder to recognize
• semantic category approach


  there are specific neural circuits in the brain for some specific categories
• embodied approach


  Concept knowledge based on reactivation of sensory and motor processes when interacting w/object

  - mirror neurons and semantic somatotopy
• 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
• visual imagery


  mental representation of object/scene preserving spatial information

  - internally constructed from LTM

  - same/similar neural substrates as perception
• mental imagery


  more general, sensory impression w/o sensory input
• Kosslyn- Schwarz theory


  image structures: surface and deep representation

  - image processes: generation, inspection, transformation
• inspection

  things further apart take longer to "travel" to; spatial information preserved
• imagery and the brain

  overlap in neurons that respond to both perceiving and imagining

  - visual cortex

  - medial temporal lobe
• is imagery perception?


  similar, but not identical

  - overlap, but differences in brain and in experience
• language


  system of communication, necessary and symbolic in nature by sharing sounds or visual (ASL or written)

  - communicate about past, future, feelings

  - hierarchical and rule based
• characteristics of language

  communicative

  arbitrary

  structured

  displacement

  generative

  dynamic
• phonology


  unit of sounds that are used, basic element of spoken language

  - phoneme

  - sound structure
• morphology


  word structure, smallest meaningful element of semantics

  - catch and bound

  - irregular forms

  - overregularization
• overregularization error


  kids inappropriately abstract and learn things one to one but they misapply rules of language
• syntax


  arranging words and sentence structure

  - putting words together in a legal combination, can vary

  - cues for how words relate to each other
• transformational grammar


  language is special and modular, nativist approach

  - born sensitive to rule structures
• universal grammar


  hardwired language rules

  - consonants precede vowels

  - subject most often preceded object

  - may make learning easier
• syntactic analysis


  break down input into phrase structures and get meaning
• semantic analysis


  get meaning

  syntactic analysis may clear up ambiguities