Cognitive Psychology - We try to base the categorization if the characteristic feature matches
CHAPTER 8: The Organization of Knowledge in the Mind the prototype
CONCEPT
- It is an idea about something that provides a means of understanding
the world.
- It is about our perception about a certain stimulus which is different for
everybody (because of our experiences)
- Each concept in turn relates to other concepts, such as apple, which
relates to redness, roundness, or fruit.
- Example: for someone who accidentally sees a worn on the apple,
his/her perception may differ from ours
CATEGORY
- It is a group of items into which different objects or concepts can be
placed that belong together because they share some common
features, or because they are all similar to a certain prototype.
- We categorize stimulus by looking at the commonalities. The more they
are similar, the more they would be in the same category
Types of Categories
Natural categories are groupings that occur naturally in the world. (Ex:
trees, plants)
Artifact categories are groupings that are designed or invented by
humans to serve particular purposes or functions. (technology, devices)
Declarative Knowledge
- Various means of organizing declarative knowledge that can
be expressed in words and other symbols (i.e., “knowing that”).
- Ex: Declarative: “Knowing that table and chair comes together” or
“Knowing that Freud is the father of Psychoanalysis”
- Your knowledge in these areas relies on your mental organization of
declarative knowledge.
Procedural Knowledge
- This is knowledge about how to follow procedural steps for performing
actions (i.e., “knowing how”).
- Ex: Knowing how to walk, to drive
Note: When declarative and procedural knowledge interact, mas
effective and easy ang task (writing our name)
FEATURE-BASED VIEW
- This means that each feature is an essential element of the
category.
- Together, the features uniquely define the category; they are defining
features (or necessary attributes):
- For a thing to be an X, it must have that feature. Otherwise, it is not an
“X.”
PROTOTYPE THEORY
- It takes a different approach: grouping things together not by their
defining features but rather by their similarity to an averaged model of
the category.
-Example: What is the prototype for a vehicle?
- for us to categorize it as a vehicle, we have to look at the
most common prototype of a vehicle.
Prototype is a “typical” member of the category.
Characteristic features describe the prototype but are not necessary
for it.
High prototypicality means that a category member closely resembles
the category prototype (it is like a “typical” member of the category). Ex:
Robin bird
Low prototypicality means that the category member does not closely
resemble a typical member of the category. Ex: Penguin
Note: the lesser commonalities of the member from the prototype, the
lower the prototypicality
THE EXEMPLAR APPROACH: THINKING ABOUT EXAMPLES
- It involves determining whether an object is similar to a
standard object.
- However, whereas the standard for the prototype approach is
a single “average” member of the category, the standard for
the exemplar approach involves many examples, each one
called an exemplar.
- Note: We are not only for a single prototype but for many
examples in order to categorize a stimulus
- Exemplars are actual members of the category that a person
has encountered in the past.
- Thus, if a person has encountered sparrows, robins, and blue
jays in the past, each of these would be an exemplar for the
category “birds.”
- Example: you already know that robin, sparrow, blue jays are
a bird, you will use all of this if a certain stimulus is a member
of a certain category
THEORY-BASED VIEW OF CATEGORIZATION
- It is also known as explanation-based view.
- A theory-based view of meaning holds that people understand
and categorize concepts in terms of implicit theories, or
general ideas they have regarding those concepts.
- Meaning, you are trying to explain that a stimulus belongs to
a certain category based on your own experiences
- For example, what makes someone a “good sport”?
o In the feature-base view, you would try to isolate
features of a good sport.
o In the prototype view, you would try to find
characteristic features of a good sport.
*maghahanap ka ng tao na may feature ng good
sport*
Ex: Manny Pacquiao is a good sport and now, you
will look at the characteristics of Pacquiao that has
the same with your stimulus
 o In the exemplar view, you might try to find some In billiards, the balls symbolize different concepts/nodes. Whenever we
good examples you have known in your life. try to connect the white ball (global), the next ball would be the basic
Ex: Not only Manny Pacquiao but more examples and the bottom ball is the specific one. How do we connect? The white
are also used in order to compare with your ball must be connected to each ball in order to put the ball inside the
stimulus basket.
o In the theory-based view, you would use your
experience to construct an explanation for what
makes someone a good sport.
▪ A good sport is someone who, when he
or she wins, is gracious in victory and
does not mock losers or otherwise make
them feel bad about losing. It is also
someone who, when he or she loses,
loses graciously and does not blame the
winner, the referee, or find excuses.
▪ You cannot use only one or two words.
You have to explain

ROSCH’S APPROACH
- Rosch distinguished three levels of categories:
• the superordinate level, which we will call the global
level
• the basic level, and
• the subordinate level, which we will call the specific
level

INTRODUCTION TO SEMANTIC NETWORKS:

COLLINS AND QUILLIAN’S HIERARCHICAL MODEL
- The network consists of nodes that are connected by links.
- Each node represents a category or concept, and concepts
are placed in the network so that related concepts are
connected.
- In addition, properties associated with each concept are
indicated at the nodes.
- The links connecting the nodes indicate that they are related
to each other in the mind.
- If there is a connection between two nodes/concepts,
meaning, there is a relationship between them Priming

- It is a hierarchical model, because it consists of levels Ex: You went to Cebu to see the whale shark. The day after, when

arranged so that more specific concepts, such as “canary” and someone asks you “can you give a type of a shark?”. Most probably, you

“salmon,” are at the bottom, and more general concepts are will answer whale shark. Because your concept is primed/exposed

at higher levels. beforehand.

If a specific concept is primed, spreading activation happens
Spreading activation is activity that spreads out along any link that
is connected to an activated node.
Note: Activated siya kasi primed at bumibilis ang retrieval
 SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATIONS

SCHEMAS
- It is a mental framework for organizing knowledge. It creates
a meaningful structure of related concepts.
- For example, we might have a schema for a kitchen that tells
us the kinds of things one might find in a kitchen and where
we might find them.
- They are very similar to semantic networks, except that
schemas are often more task-oriented. (Example about
massage)
- Schema may change, Ex: animals with four legs and a tail is
not only a dog, it can also be a cow.
- As we experience the world, we attain more schema.
- A script, a kind of schema, contains information about the
particular order in which things occur. In general, scripts are
much less flexible than schemas. However, scripts include
default values for the actors, the props, the setting, and the
sequence of events expected to occur.
- A script is like an overview of an event