Question 1

Your friend tells you that she just got a new golden retriever that is two years old. You assume that it has yellowish fur and is a fairly large dog. Your thoughts are an example of category ______.

Accepted Answer

Your thoughts are an example of induction because you are using general knowledge about the category of golden retrievers (their typical fur color and size) to make an assumption about a specific instance (your friend's new dog).

Question 2

Which of these is a reasonable criticism of the research you read about in this chapter?

Accepted Answer

The article mentioned that the concepts studied by researchers have been fairly simple and may not reflect how people categorize in real-world scenarios. This is a reasonable criticism. The other options are not mentioned in the chapter or are not necessarily a criticism of the research.

Question 3

The feature comparison approach argues that people use their ______ abilities rather than a ______ to compare two concepts.

Accepted Answer

The feature comparison approach suggests that people use their reasoning abilities to compare two concepts based on the features they possess, rather than relying on their knowledge network or a hierarchy for comparison. The other options (B, C, and D) do not accurately reflect the central idea of the feature comparison approach.

Question 4

Collins and Loftus created a revised semantic network model to ______.

Accepted Answer

Collins and Loftus's revised semantic network model was created in order to try to account for typicality effects, which refers to how some categories or concepts are more central or prototypical than others in our mental representations. The model accomplished this by incorporating graded connections between concepts, rather than assigning the same weight to all connections.

Question 5

People with ______ experience worsening deterioration of their conceptual knowledge.

Accepted Answer

Semantic dementia is a subtype of frontotemporal dementia that primarily affects semantic memory, which is the ability to understand and use knowledge about the meanings of words and concepts. As the disease progresses, individuals with semantic dementia experience worsening deterioration of their conceptual knowledge.

Question 6

Categories higher in a conceptual hierarchy are ______ to lower levels, while categories lower are ______ to higher levels.

Accepted Answer

Categories higher in a conceptual hierarchy are considered superordinate to lower levels, while categories at a lower level are considered subordinate to higher levels.

Question 7

How does Barsalou's perceptual symbols theory differ from the other theories of how we represent perceptual knowledge?

Accepted Answer

Barsalou's perceptual symbols theory differs from other theories by including actions and sensory details as part of perceptual representation. Other theories, such as the classical view and prototype theory, focus more on abstract concepts and categories. Barsalou's theory emphasizes the importance of embodied cognition and the role of sensory-motor experiences in shaping our understanding of the world.

Question 8

Superordinate concepts are usually ______, while subordinate concepts tend to be ______.

Accepted Answer

Superordinate concepts are broad and general, making them distinctive but not very informative. Subordinate concepts are more specific, providing more information but are less distinctive.

Question 9

Based on what you have read, which of these is an accurate statement about how people organize concepts?

Accepted Answer

Research shows that despite language and cultural differences, people tend to organize concepts into similar categories.

Question 10

Imagine seeing a hairless cat for the first time. You try to rationalize whether this is in fact a cat, and you reason, "It has four legs, two pointy ears, a pointy nose, and claws; it is probably a cat." This exemplifies the ______.

Accepted Answer

The feature comparisons approach involves comparing an object to a prototype or set of features associated with a category. In this example, the individual is comparing the hairless cat to the set of features associated with a cat, and ultimately concluding that it is probably a cat based on these features.

Question 11

"If desserts are a type of food, and pavlova is a type of dessert, then pavlova must be a type of food with all the properties of food." This is an example of what type of relationship?

Accepted Answer

This is an example of transitive relationship because it establishes a logical connection between three elements where if A is related to B and B is related to C, then A must be related to C.

Question 12

Why do you think parents tend to use basic-level concepts when speaking to their children?

Accepted Answer

Children's cognitive development is not yet advanced enough for them to understand more specific or complex concepts. Parents use basic-level concepts to ensure that their communication is understandable and effective for their children.

Question 13

Which type of organizational approach involves case studies of research subjects who have age-related reasoning deficits?

Accepted Answer

The organizational approach that involves case studies of research subjects who have age-related reasoning deficits is a neuroscience-inspired approach. This approach aims to understand the brain processes underlying cognitive functions such as reasoning, attention, and memory, and how they change with age or neurological disorders. A stored network approach focuses on categorization and recognition of objects based on stored representations. A basic level approach focuses on identifying objects at a basic level of categorization. A feature comparison approach focuses on identifying objects by comparing their features to stored templates or prototypes.

Question 14

Your aunt introduces you to the small dog she just adopted. In your experience, small dogs usually bark loudly and insistently, so you believe this dog will too. What would a psychologist call this reasoning?

Accepted Answer

This reasoning is an example of category induction, which involves using past experiences and knowledge to make assumptions about new objects or situations. The assumption that the small dog will bark loudly and insistently is based on the category of "small dogs" that the individual has constructed through past experiences.

Question 15

Barsalou (1985) defined the "ideal" as ______.

Accepted Answer

Barsalou (1985) defined the "ideal" as how completely an item fulfilled a goal, focusing on the concept of goal-derived categories in cognitive psychology.

Question 16

The game "Family Feud," where the goal is to name the most common object, place, or person in a category, is likely based on ______ concepts.

Accepted Answer

The categories in "Family Feud" require players to name the most common object, place, or person at a basic-level classification. For example, a category may be "Types of fruit" rather than a more specific sub-level such as "Types of apples."

Question 17

In picturing a scientist, you may automatically think of a person with a white lab coat, disheveled hair, and glasses. This is an example of a(n) ______.

Accepted Answer

A stereotype is a generalization or oversimplified view about a particular group or category, in this case scientists. The image described in the question is a commonly held stereotype about what a scientist looks like.

Question 18

The idea that concept information is stored at the most efficient level of the hierarchy is known as a ______ economy.

Accepted Answer

The idea that concept information is stored at the most efficient level of the hierarchy is known as a cognitive economy. This means that our brain stores information in a way that is easy to access and retrieve, without using too many resources. This helps us to quickly process information and make decisions without causing cognitive overload. The other choices are not related to this concept.

Question 19

Which type of organizational approach was proposed by Collins and Quillian and includes "has," "is," and "can" links?

Accepted Answer

The organizational approach proposed by Collins and Quillian is the stored network approach, which involves organizing information in memory based on network connections between concepts. This approach includes links such as "has," "is," and "can" to define relationships between concepts.

Question 20

You take a temporary job as a house sitter. The homeowner tells you, "Part of your job will be to feed the animals." You want more specific information, so you ask, "What kind of animals?" To a psychologist, what kind of concept are you asking for?

Accepted Answer

You are asking for a subordinate concept, which refers to a more specific instance within a category. For example, if "animals" is the basic category, "dogs" or "cats" would be subordinate concepts specifying what kind of animals.

Quiz 10: Concepts and Knowledge