Lecture 13 Conceptual knowledge
What type of memory process is conceptual knowledge?
Semantic memory
What is mental imagery?
Experiencing a sensory impression in the absence of sensory input
How do behaviorists propose that we learn language?
Through reinforcement
What is functional fixedness?
Restricting use of an object to its familiar functions (aka not thinking "outside the box")
What is the conjunction rule?
Conjunction rule: the probability of a conjunction of two events cannot be higher than the probability of each event separately
(bank teller has to be more likely than bank teller AND feminist)
What types of information are included as part of a concept?
Concepts often include:
Properties of the item
How the item is associated with other items
How they nest into broader categories
What does propositional vs depictive refer to with respect to mental imagery?
•Some claimed that imagery is only propositional: consists of symbols and language
•Others claimed that imagery is depictive: can be similar to real perception
When we say "language is hierarchical" and "language is governed by rules", what do those mean?
•Hierarchical refers to the fact that language has components that can be combined to form larger units
E.g., words – phrases – sentences - story
•Governed by rules means that there are specific ways that components can be arranged
Describe convergent thinking and divergent thinking
•Convergent thinking: Trying to figure out the best solution to the problem (i.e., trying to solve a problem that has one solution)
•Divergent thinking: generating multiple solutions to an open-ended problem (e.g., thinking of as many uses as you can for a brick)
Describe the base rate fallacy
Base rates: the general prevalence of something
Base rate fallacy: most people disregard base rates when reasoning, and we instead use the representativeness heuristic (our estimated probability that an item is a member of a category is determined by how well the item resembles the properties normally associated with that categories)
What is the exemplar approach? (i.e., what is an exemplar, and how do we use it to categorize)
Exemplar: a specific example of something
Exemplar approach proposes that we categorize new items by comparing them to the most similar exemplar we have stored in memory
Describe the mental scanning study: what they did, what they found, and what it implies about mental imagery
•Participants memorized a picture and then later were asked to imagine it and move (aka “scan”) from one part of the picture to the other
•It took longer for participants to mentally move long distances than shorter distances
•Evidence that imagery simulates perception
Describe garden path sentences and what causes them
•Garden path sentences: sentences that begin by appearing to mean one thing, but then end up meaning something else ("The man who whistles tunes pianos")
Driven by difficulties with parsing
•Incorrect parsing: [the man who whistles tunes] [pianos]
•Correct parsing: [the man who whistles] [tunes pianos]
Describe the experiment on insight vs non-insight problems, and what it found
•Insight: a sudden realization of a problem’s solution
•Participants gave “warmth” judgments every 15s: “How close do you feel you are to solving the problem?”
•Insight problems (like chain problem and triangle problem) are solved suddenly
•Non-insight problems (like math) are solved gradually
What is expected utility theory?
Expected utility theory proposes that people are rational; if they have all relevant information, they will make a decision that results in the best outcome, aka maximize expected utility
•Utility: outcomes that are desirable because they are in the person’s best interest
What is the prototype approach? (i.e., what is a prototype, and how do we use it to categorize)
Prototype: an average representation of all members of a category
Prototype approach proposes that we categorize new items by comparing them to our prototypes and determining which category's prototype is most similar to the new item
Describe the study where a very dim image was projected onto a wall (Perky 1910): what they did, what they found, and the implications for mental imagery
•Experimenters projected an extremely dim and difficult to see image on a wall--Participants did not notice that there was an image at all
•Participants were asked to imagine objects, and they described the imagined objects as looking just like the projected images: same orientation, color, etc.
The fact that they mistook perception for imagery indicates that imagery simulates perception
What is the word frequency effect, what is it driven by, and what are examples of high and low frequency words?
•Word frequency effect: We understand, orient to, and respond to high-frequency words more quickly than to low-frequency words
•This is likely driven by priming: we are more likely to be primed for high frequency words (From seeing them more recently)
High frequency:"tomorrow", "dog"
Low frequency: "bureau", "rut"
At what age are we most creative, and what things can help increase creativity?
Creativity peaks at age 40
To increase creativity:
- Use screens less
- Generate ideas alone rather than in a group
- Get out in nature, meditate, do creative hobbies, exercise, be alone, mind wander
Describe deductive reasoning and syllogisms
•Deductive reasoning: determining whether a conclusion logically follows from premises; starts with broad principles to make logical predictions about specific cases
Very common in philosophy
•The basic form of deductive reasoning is called a syllogism, which includes:
•Two statements called premises
•Third statement called conclusion
Describe spreading activation
When one concept is activated (e.g., you hear the word "cat"), it activates nearby concepts in your semantic network (e.g., "dog", "pet")
This causes priming for those activated concepts
Describe the double dissociation evidence with respect to visual imagery, and what "double dissociation" means
•Patient R.M.: could do perception but not imagery
•Patient C.K.: could do imagery but not perception
•Together, this is evidence for a double dissociation between imagery and perception
•A double dissociation indicates that there are separate mechanisms for the two cognitive processes
Describe the study examining how we decide between different meanings of ambiguous words, and what it concluded
•Participants read sentences where the meaning of an ambiguous word (rose) was obvious from the sentence context, then they were tested for reaction time to the word “flower”
•For both conditions, they responded faster in reading the word “flower” immediately after: They initially experienced priming for both meanings of the word “rose”
•But 200ms later, they suppressed the other meaning of the word “rose”: Had anti-priming for “flower” when the word “rose” had referred to standing up
Conclusion:
•We initially access all possible meanings (rose = stood up; flower), then once we’ve identified which meaning is correct, we suppress the other possible meanings (select “stood up”, suppress “flower”)
Describe the information processing approach to problem solving (5 components)
•The information processing approach theorizes that we approach problems using a problem space that contains:
•Initial state: conditions at the beginning of the problem
•Intermediate state(s): a sequence of choices or steps
•Goal state: the solution of a problem
•Operators: rules that specify which moves are allowed and which are not
Describe inductive reasoning, and the 3 main factors that determine the strength of an inductive argument
•Inductive reasoning: reasoning that is based on observation (specific, relevant evidence); starts with specific cases and generalizes to a broad principle
The core of science (and detective investigations)
1.Representativeness of observations: How well do observations about a particular category or situation represent all possible situations?
2.Number of observations: how many relevant observations have you made?
3.Quality of evidence: how strong of evidence are the observations?