Semantic Memory and Concepts

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Questions and Answers

What is semantic memory primarily responsible for storing?

General facts and concepts of the world (correct)

Emotional memories and feelings

Personal experiences and events

Procedural skills and tasks

What does a concept represent in semantic memory?

A mental representation of a category of objects (correct)

A set of unrelated items

A unique object with specific attributes

A collection of random thoughts

Which approach defines concepts based on their essential, common features?

Prototype approach

Exemplar approach

Knowledge-based approach

Common-feature approach (correct)

What issue is associated with the common-feature approach to defining concepts?

Defining features may not align with human intuitions Signup and view all the answers

What do fuzzy boundaries in concepts refer to?

The overlapping characteristics between categories Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT a building block of semantic memory?

Sensation Signup and view all the answers

In what way do prototypes differ from the common-feature approach?

Prototypes are created from actual examples Signup and view all the answers

Which semantic organization theory describes a structure that is hierarchical in nature?

Hierarchical theory Signup and view all the answers

What is a prototype in the context of category representation?

A central description representing a category stored in memory. Signup and view all the answers

What is meant by 'typicality effect'?

The tendency to identify typical members of a category faster than non-typical members. Signup and view all the answers

What is a limitation of the prototype approach?

It does not account for abstract concepts or ad-hoc categories. Signup and view all the answers

In the exemplar approach, which additional information is stored along with category examples?

Frequency information about how often each exemplar is encountered. Signup and view all the answers

How is the prototype similarity score calculated?

By counting the match of features with the prototype. Signup and view all the answers

What was suggested by the findings regarding exemplar scores and reaction times (RTs)?

Exemplar scores showed a closer correlation with RTs than prototype scores. Signup and view all the answers

Which statement accurately differentiates the exemplar approach from the prototype approach?

The exemplar approach stores multiple specific instances rather than a single prototype. Signup and view all the answers

What does 'family resemblance' indicate in the context of category membership?

The matching features between an item and its prototype. Signup and view all the answers

What characterizes the hub in conceptual representation?

It is an abstract representation that integrates information from various modalities. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes the three-level hierarchy of concepts?

It categorizes concepts into top-level, middle-level, and bottom-level categories. Signup and view all the answers

How did Collins and Loftus contribute to the understanding of semantic memory?

They introduced the concept of a semantic network based on relatedness. Signup and view all the answers

What is the limitation of the hierarchical approach to concept categorization?

It is too inflexible and arbitrary. Signup and view all the answers

Which method is NOT mentioned as a way to find related concepts in semantic networks?

Computer simulations of memory processing. Signup and view all the answers

What does latent semantic analysis (LSA) primarily compute?

Co-occurrence patterns among words Signup and view all the answers

What is a characteristic of the basic-level category in concept hierarchy?

It provides the best balance of informativeness and distinctiveness. Signup and view all the answers

What type of model is latent semantic analysis categorized as?

A connectionist model Signup and view all the answers

What is included in the spokes of conceptual representation?

Specific regions corresponding to various modalities. Signup and view all the answers

How can the meaning of a word be inferred according to the provided content?

From the other words that co-occur with it Signup and view all the answers

In semantic networks, what do 'nodes' represent?

Concepts themselves. Signup and view all the answers

What is a major application of the Simlex-999 dataset?

To evaluate computational models of language Signup and view all the answers

In semantic memory research, what does 'spreading activation' refer to?

The process of recalling memories through related concepts Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus when analyzing 'semantic vectors'?

The underlying meanings based on co-occurrence Signup and view all the answers

What type of data can be utilized for the word association task?

Written language and content from the Internet Signup and view all the answers

What role do connection weights play in the latent semantic analysis model?

They correspond to the co-occurrence frequency of words Signup and view all the answers

What is the result of activating a node in a semantic network?

Activation spreads to connected nodes. Signup and view all the answers

How does a stereotype relate to schemas?

It contains overgeneralizations about a group. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following describes a schema?

A set of related propositions about a specific concept. Signup and view all the answers

In semantic memory theories, which mechanism is involved in how information is organized?

Spreading activation. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best characterizes a proposition?

A rule-based statement. Signup and view all the answers

How do schemas facilitate memory?

They help recognize patterns in data. Signup and view all the answers

Which type of theoretical approach categorizes concepts by their common features?

Prototype theory. Signup and view all the answers

What role do stereotypes play when interpreting social situations?

Influence expectations and judgments about groups. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Semantic Memory

Semantic memory is a part of declarative (explicit) long-term memory that stores general facts and concepts about the world.
It also includes knowledge of the meanings of words in a specific language.
Individual elements like concepts and categories are the building blocks of semantic memory.

Concepts

A concept is a mental representation of a category of objects.
A category is a set of objects that belong together.

Theoretical Approaches to Defining Concepts

Common-feature approach: Concepts are defined by their essential, shared features, allowing categorization by checking those features.
- Example: "Fruit" is defined by being the ripe, reproductive body of a seed plant.
Issues with the common-feature approach:
- Difficulty identifying defining features for all concepts.
- Even with features, some concepts are not easily classified, showing fuzzy boundaries.
Prototype approach: Each category has a prototype, a central description representing the category in long-term memory.
- To categorize, items are compared to the prototype, and a high level of match indicates family resemblance.
Typicality effect: People are faster to identify typical members of a category compared to non-typical members (e.g. robin vs. ostrich).
Limitations of prototype approaches:
- Not all concepts have clear prototypes (e.g., abstract concepts, ad-hoc categories).
- Prototype approaches don't fully capture expert evaluations of concepts, which involve more complex evaluations than feature matching.
Exemplar approach: Instead of storing a single prototype, we store examples (exemplars) of the category in long-term memory, along with encounter frequency information.
- Comparisons to these exemplars contribute to categorization.
Comparing Exemplar and Prototype Approaches:
- Both approaches contribute to category naming time (RTs), but exemplar scores showed a stronger correlation.
Knowledge-based approach: Embodied representation with modality-specific spokes (sensory, motor, emotional, verbal) and a modality-independent hub for integrated information.
- Emphasizes contextual variability (through spokes) and stability (through hub).

Theories of Semantic Organization

Hierarchical approach: Concepts are organized in a hierarchy of generality, with superordinate (abstract), basic-level (balanced), and subordinate (specific) categories.
- Example: "Furniture" (superordinate), "Chair" (basic), "Bar stool" (subordinate).
Limitations: The three-level hierarchy is inflexible and arbitrary, and doesn't account for the diversity of real-world categories.
Network-based approach: Semantic information is organized based on semantic relatedness in a semantic network.
- Nodes represent concepts, and links connect related concepts.
- Spread of activation: When a node is activated, activation spreads to connected nodes, enriching the meaning of the original concept.

Methods for Identifying Semantic Relationships

Word association task: Participants provide associations to a given word.
Feature listing task: Participants list features associated with a concept.
Direct ratings of similarity: Participants rate the similarity between two concepts.
Computational approaches: Analyze co-occurrence patterns of words in large datasets to calculate semantic vectors representing word meaning.

Combining Concepts

Proposition: Combine concepts based on rules to create true or false statements.
- Example: "Dr. Cynthia is a professor in the psychology department."
Schema: Integrated packets of related propositions about the world, events, or people.
- Example: "How to take public transport in Singapore."
Stereotype: A type of schema containing negative overgeneralizations about a specific group of people.

Importance of Schemas

Facilitate perception and memory: Schemas help recognize familiar objects and events quickly.
- Example: Recognizing the card reader on a bus.
Enable predictions and inferences: Schemas allow us to make assumptions about situations and people.
- Example: Assuming a family with many pets is unlikely to be planning children.

War of the Ghosts

Demonstrates how schemas influence memory by shaping recollection and interpretation.
Reflects how personal schemas can influence understanding of social situations.
Stereotypes can also influence the interpretation of events.

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Description

Explore the fundamentals of semantic memory, including the definitions of concepts and categories. This quiz highlights theoretical approaches like the common-feature and prototype approaches to understanding how concepts are formed and categorized in the mind.