THE ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE MIND

Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. Any theory of Semantic memory must explain how people mentally
represent concepts and ideas.

Semantic Memory stores knowledge of concepts and facts.

Categorization
A Category is a kind of thing…

The type of representation of knowledge in semantic memory has necessary implications for
‘categorization’

e.g., Make a List 12 Farm Animals

Rate each item with regards to how “GOOD” the item is as an exemplar of a “FARM ANIMAL”

CONVERGING OPERATIONS
-the use of multiple approaches and techniques to address a problem
--the way in w/c knowledge is represented profoundly influences how effectively knowledge can be
manipulated for performing any number of cognitive tasks
Ex: CMLIX 959
x LVIII x 58

ORGANIZATION OF DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE

CONCEPT
-an idea about something that provides a means of understanding the world.
--a fundamental unit of symbolic knowledge, or knowledge of correspondence between symbols and
their meaning.
Ex. The symbol “3” means “three”

CATEGORY
-hierarchy of concepts
Ex. Bird is a concept but also a category (robin, hawk etc. as its members)
--that is, a category is a group of items into w/c different objects or concepts can be placed that belong
together because they share some common features, or because they are all like a certain prototype.

Ex. So a “bird” is a concept, but it also is a category that includes, at more specific level of the hierarchy
(robin, hawk, etc). at more general level of the hierarchy, a bird is a kind of animal.

CONCEPT AND CATEGORIES

NATURAL CATEGORIES
-are groupings that occur naturally in the world. (birds, trees, etc.)
ARTIFACT CATEGORIES
-are groupings that are designed or invented by humans to serve purposes or functions
(automobiles, & kitchen appliances)
--the speed it takes to assign objects to categories seems to be about the same for both natural and
artifact categories

ad hoc categories - categories created to achieve goals in everyday life or for specific purposes
--typically, are described ot in words but rather in phrases. (their content varies depending on the
context)
ex. “my best friends”, things one can write on”, “things I need to purchase in the market”

---concepts, in general, and categories in particular are also used in other areas like computer science.

* Categories appear to have basic level (natural level) of specificity; a level w/n the hierarchy that is
preferred to other levels.

-the basic level is the one that most people find to be maximally distinctive.
-when people are shown pictures of objects, they identify the objects at a basic level more quickly
than they identify objects at a basic level more quickly than they identify objects at higher or
lower levels.

*superordinate level- a “fruit”

*basic level- an “apple”
* subordinate level- “a red delicious apple”

FEATURE-BASED CONCEPTS: DEFINING VIEW

-the classic vie of concepts disassembles a concept into a set of featural components. All those features
are the necessary to define the concept.

DEFINING CONCEPTS (necessary attributes)

-features uniquely define the concepts
Ex. “BACHELOR” ----must be male, unmarried, adult If one feature is absent, the object cannot belong to
the category
--according to this view, you cannot be male, unmarried, and adult, and at the same time is not a
“bachelor”
--but some concepts do not readily lend themselves to featural analysis.

Ex. “GAME” finding anything at all that is a common feature of all games is difficult to do (some are “fun”
some “are not”

* Wittgenstein- suggested that we know what is game by means of family resemblance

----thus, a “game” is a concept whose category members share features, but w/o any feature being
common to all members.

* FEATURE-BASED THEORY, in sum, has some attractive features, but it does not give a complete account
of concepts or categories
PROTOTYPE THEORY: A CHARACTERISTIC VIEW

PROTOTYPE THEORY
-grouping things together not by their defining features rather by their similarity to an averaged
model of the category

PROTOTYPE
-an abstract average of all the objects in the category we previously have encountered
-that is, we have an average representation of the category, and we compare objects to that average
representation (prototype) when deciding whether or not to place them in a certain category.
*objects that are prototypical of a category therefore have a high family resemblance.
---an object will be classified as belonging to a category if it is sufficiently similar to the prototype, that is if
it has some family resemblance.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES
-crucial for prototypes; w/c describes (characterize or typify) the prototype but are not necessary for it.
-commonly are present in typical examples of concepts, but they are not always present.
Ex. When people are asked to list the features of a category such as “fruit” or “furniture”, most
list features like “sweetness” or “made out of wood”.
–these features are characteristic rather than defining
--this matters in our interactions w/ other people as well: stereotypes of different groups of people
(Italians or psychologists) consist of conglomerate of average features.

CLASSICAL AND FUZZY CONCEPTS

CLASSICAL CONCEPTS
-categories that can be readily defined through defining features, such as “bachelor”
-tend to be inventions that experts have devised for arbitrarily labeling a class that has associated defining
features.
--classical concepts and categories may be built on defining features.

FUZZY CONCEPTS
-categories that cannot be so easily defined, such as “game” or “death”
-tend to evolve naturally
--fuzzy concepts and categories are built around prototypes

* for our purposes, we view similarity in terms of the number of features shared between an object and the
prototype. Perhaps some features even should be weighed more heavily as being more central to the prototype than
are other features.

REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES: USING EXEMPLARS

EXEMPLARS
-typical representatives of a category.
--categories are setup by creating a rule and then by storing examples of exemplars. Objects are then
compared to the exemplars to decide whether or not they belong in the category the exemplars
represent.
* exemplar theories of categorization also has been “criticized”. One notable criticism questions the number of
exemplars and types of exemplars that are stored for each category. Some theorists contend that the mind does not
have enough resources to store all the exemplars one would need to typify membership in a category.

VARYING ABSTRACTION MODEL (VAM)

-suggest that prototypes and exemplars are just two extremes on a continuum of abstraction.
-most of the time we do not use just one abstract prototype or many concrete exemplars for
categorization. Instead, we use several intermediate representations that represent subgroups
w/n the category

Ex. Animals might be represented by specific exemplars of kinds of animals, such as “finch” or
“sparrow” or “whale”, but also by higher order categories such as “songbird” or “marine mammal”

A SYNTHESIS: COMBINING FEAUTURE-BASED AND

PROTOTYPE THEORIES
-full theory of categorization can combine both defining and characteristic features, so that each
category has both a prototype and a core.
CORE- the defining feature something must have to be considered an example of a category.
--consider the concept of a “robber”. The core requires that someone labeled as a robber be a person
who takes things from others w/o permission.
--the prototype, however, tends to identify particular people as more likely to be robbers.
*researchers, tested the notion that we come to understand the importance of defining features only as
we grow older
-the younger children viewed someone as a robber even if the person did not steal anything. What
mattered was the that the person had the characteristic features of a robber.

THEORY-BASED VIEW OF CATEGORIZATION

How Do People Use Their theories for Categorization?
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.
Ex. What makes someone a “good sport”?

Featur e-based view You would try to isolate features of a good sport
P r ototype view You would try to find characteristic features of a good sport
Exemplar view You might try to find some good examples in your life
Theor y -based view Use 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

* in the theory-based view , it is difficult to capture the essence of the theory in a word or two, rather, the
view of a concept is more complex
* suggests that people can distinguish between essential and incidental, or accidental, features of
concepts because they have complex mental representations of these concepts.

FINDING THE “ESSENCE” OF THINGS

ESSENTIALISM
-this view holds those certain categories, such as those of “lion” or “female”. Have an underlying reality
that cannot be observed directly.
SEMANTIC NETWORK MODELS
-suggests that knowledge is represented in our minds in the form of concepts that are connected w/ each
other in a web-like form.

* COLLINS & QUILLIAN’S NETWORK MODEL

HIERARCHICAL SEMANTIC (related to meaning as expressed in language—linguistic symbols)

-a semantic network is a web of elements of meaning (nodes) in w/c the elements are connected w/ each
other through links.
--organized knowledge representation takes the form of hierarchical tree diagram.

NODE- the elements; typically, concepts.

LABELED RELATIONSHIP - connections between the nodes (might indicate category, membership,
attributes, or semantic relationships.
--thus, a network provides a means for organizing concepts. The exact form of a semantic network differs
from one theory to another, but most networks look something like the highly simplified network.
COMPARING SEMANTIC FEATURES
-an alter theory is that knowledge is organized based on a comparison of semantic features,
rather than on a strict hierarchy of concepts
-- (sound similar but different to feature-based theory of categorization)-features of different concepts
are
compared directly , rather than serving as the basis for forming category.
--word stem completion (s_ _ m)- the activation of one node of the network increases the activation of
related nodes
* we may broaden our understanding of concepts further if we consider not only the hierarchical and basic
levels of a concept, but also other relational information the concept contains.
SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION
SCHEMAS
-one main approach to understanding how concepts is related in the mind.
*schema- mental framework for organizing knowledge - it creates a meaningful structure of related
concepts
Schemas have several characteristics that ensure wide flexibility in their use.

1. Schemas can include other schemas (schema for animal, includes schema for cows, apes, etc)
2. Encompasses typical, general facts that can vary slightly from one specific instance to another.
3. Can vary in their degree of abstraction.

(schema for “justice” is much more abstract than a schema for apple or even a schema for fruit.)
Sc hemas also include information about relationships.
*concepts (link between trucks and cars)
*attributes w/n concepts (height and weight of an elephant)
* attributes in related concepts ( the redness of a cherry and the redness of an apple)
*concepts and particular contexts (fish and the ocean)
*specific concepts and general background knowledge (concepts about particular U.S presidents and general
knowledge about U.S government and about US history)
*relationships w/n schemas particularly interest cognitive psychologists are causal (if-then) relationships.

--Boundary extension
*a problem w/ schema is that they can give rise to stereotypes

SCRIPTS
-contains information about the order in w/c things occur
--in general scripts are much less flexible than schemas. However, it includes default values for actors,
props, settings, and the sequence of events expected to occur.
--frontal and parietal lobes area involved in the generation of scripts
*typicality effect- when a person is learning a script, if both typical and atypical actions are provided, the
atypical information will be recalled more readily.
* scripts enables us to use mental framework for acting in certain situations when we must fill in apparent
gaps w/n a given context.

REPRESENTATION OF HOW WE DO THINGS:

PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE

THE “PRODUCTION OF PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE”

Procedural knowledge representation
- is acquired by practicing the implementation of procedure

--once a mental representation of nondeclarative knowledge is constructed (proceduralization is

complete) that knowledge is implicit. (it is hard to make explicit by trying to put it in words.
--practice often decreases explicit access to knowledge
--as your explicit access to nondeclarative knowledge decreases, however, your speed and
ease of gaining implicit access to that knowledge increases.
 -eventually, most nondeclarative knowledge can be retrieved for use much more quickly than
declarative knowledge can be retrieved

Serial processing- info is handled through a linear sequence of operations, one operation at a time.
--psychologist have developed a variety of models for how procedural information is presented
and processed each of these models involves serial processing.

Production
- includes the generation and output of procedure. (one way in w/c computers can represent and
organize procedural knowledge.

Production system
-includes the entire set of rules (productions) for executing the task or using the skill.
--used when you want to complete a particular task or use a skill.
*sometimes, production system, like computer programs, contain bugs.
Bugs- are flaws in the instructions for the conditions or for executing the actions.
* according to the production model, human representations of procedural knowledge may contain
some occasional bugs.

NONDECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE
-may encompass a broader range of mental representations than just procedural knowledge

P r oc edur al knowledge Perceptual, motor, cognitive skills

Assoc iative knowledge (c onditioning) Classical and operant conditioning
Nonassoc iative Habituation and sensitization
Pr iming Fundamental links w/s a knowledge network, in w/c the activation
of information along mental pathway facilitates the subsequent
retrieval of info along a related pathway or even the same mental
pathway

*all of these nondeclarative forms of knowledge are usually implicit . (you are not aware of the different steps
you carry out when you act, and it is hard for you spell them out explicitly)

Semantic priming- we are primed by a meaningful context or by meaningful information . (such info typically
is “word” or “cue” that is meaningfully related to the target that is used.)

Repetition priming- prior exposure to a word or other stimulus primes a subsequent retrieval of
that information.

* according to the spreading activation theories, the amount of activation between a prime and a given
target node is function of two things:
-the number of links connecting the prime and the target
-the relative strength of each connection.

--this view holds that increasing the number of intervening links tends to decrease the likelihood of the
priming effect. But increasing the strength of each link between the prime and its targets tends to
increase the likelihood of the priming effect.

* the occurrence of priming through spreading activations taken by most psychologists as support for
network model of knowledge representation in memory processes.

COMBINING REPRESENTATIONS: ACT -R

ACT (ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF THOUGHT)

-model of knowledge representation and information processing.

* John Anderson - in his model, he synthesized some of the features of serial information-processing
models and some of the features of semantic-network models
--in ACT, procedural knowledge is represented in the form of production systems.
--declarative knowledge is represented in the form of propositional networks.

Proposition- defined by Anderson, as being the smallest unit of knowledge that can be judged to be either
true or false. ACT is evolved form of earlier models

ACT-R (ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF THOUGHT-RATIONAL)

-model of information processing that integrates a network of representation for declarative knowledge
and production system representation for procedural knowledge.

--in the ACT-R, networks include images of objects and corresponding spatial configurations and
relationships.
--they also include temporal information, such as relationships involving the sequencing of actions,
events, or even the order in w/c items appear.
“temporal strings”-temporal information; contain info about the relative time sequence.

DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE W/N ACT-R

-according to Anderson’s model, the nodes can be either inactive or active at a given time.

SPREADING ACTIVATION
-given each node’s receptivity to stimulations from the neighboring nodes, there is spreading
activation w/n the network from one node to another. But the amount of info (number of
nodes) that can be activated at any one time has limits.
--as more nodes are activated, and the speed of activation reaches greater distance from the initial
source of activation, the activation weakens.
* Therefore, the nodes closely related to the original node have a great deal of activation.
However, nodes that are more remotely related are activated to a lesser degree.
* the more often particular links between nodes are used, the stronger the links become.

PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE W/N ACT-R

Proceduralization
-the overall process by w/c we transform slow, explicit info about procedures (knowing that) into
speedy, implicit, implementation of procedures (knowing how)

STAGES OF PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE

COGNITIVE STAGE We think about explicit rules for implementing the procedures
ASSOCIATIVE STAGE We consciously practice using the explicit rules extensively, usually in
a highly consistent manner
 AUTONOMOUS STAGE We use these rues automatically and implicitly w/o thinking about
them. We show a high degree of integration and coordination, as well
as speed and accuracy.

The human brain seems to engage in multiple processes simultaneously. It acts on myriad bits
of knowledge all at once.

PARALLEL PROCESSING: THE CONNECTIONSIT MODEL

Parallel Processing- It is the ability of the brain to make sense of several different incoming stimuli at the
same time.
• A computer can respond to an input within a nanosecond, but an individual neuron may take up to 3
milliseconds to respond

Parallel Distributed Processing Model

• According to this model, we handle large numbers of cognitive operations at once through a network
from incalculable number of locations in the brain.

How Parallel Distributed Processing Model works?

These interconnected patterns of nodes enable the individual to organize meaningfully the knowledge
contained in the connections among the various nodes

It is conceived as the strength of connection between the different neutral networks.

In the brain in anytime, a given neuron may be:

Inactive neurons
Inactive neurons are not stimulated beyond their threshold of excitation. They do not release any
neurotransmitter into the synapse.

Excitatory Neurons
Excitatory Neurons release neurotransmitters that stimulate receptive neurons at the synapses. They
increase the likelihood that the receiving neurons will reach their threshold of excitation.

Inhibitory Neurons
Inhibitory neurons release neurotransmitters that inhibit receptive neurons. They reduce the likelihood
that the receiving neurons will reach their threshold of excitation.

When we receive new information, the activation from the information either strengthens or weakens the
connections between units. The new information may come from environmental stimuli, from the
memory or cognitive process.

By using PDP model cognitive psychologist attempt to explain various general characteristic of human
cognition. These characters include our ability to respond flexibility, dynamically, rapidly, and relatively
accurately.

What is neural Network Model?

A neural network is a series of algorithms that endeavors to recognize underlying relationships in a set
of data through a process that mimics the way the human brain operates

Criticisms of the Connectionist Models

connectionist networks neglect properties that neural systems have, or that they propose properties that
neural networks do not have

critics ask why any model should be more credible than another for explaining cognitive mechanisms just
because it resembles the structure of the brain

many aspects of the connectionist models are not yet well defined

Three major themes of Representation

1. dual-coding (encoding and storage)

✓ 2 codes, 2 storage systems (Imaginal + verbal storage)

✓ People show a memory recall advantage if information is processed both verbally and visually
✓ This suggests an advantage for “dual-coding”
o evidence: concreteness advantage in word recall
o evidence: Brook's F task (w/ visual or auditory second task) = *F

2. conceptual-propositional hypothesis
✓ Bransford & Franks
o Semantic Integration
✓ People store information as inter-related abstract mental concepts (propositional codes)
 o e.g., story sentence verbatim recall very poor (just content)
✓ reject isomorphism
o isomorphism: iso= same morph = shape
o "picture in the head"

3. functional equivalence (e.g., in vision)

✓ The proposition that imagery, although it does not result from stimulation of sense organs, is
essentially the same as perception in the way that it functions.
✓ imagery & perception are highly similar
o consider mental rotation
▪ Task
▪ Theory
▪ Data

Mental Rotation
✓ Mentally aligning the two “sugar cube shapes” (Shepard & Metzler cubes) takes time proportional
to the angular disparity of their presentation.

Analog Mental Scanning

✓ Mentally moving takes time proportional to the distance travelled on the map
 Mental Imagery

✓ In one experiment, Kosslyn (1975) asked subjects to imagine animals standing next to one
another, such as a rabbit next to an elephant or a rabbit next to a fly. Then subjects were asked
questions such as, "Does the rabbit have two front paws?" People took longer to answer such
questions when the rabbit was imagined next to an elephant, because the rabbit's image was so
small. When the rabbit was imagined next to a fly, its imagined image was large, and subjects
were quicker to answer questions about the image. Kosslyn concluded that visual imagination
produces "little models, which we can manipulate much like we do actual objects."

Mental Maps
✓ Alignment Heuristic
The alignment heuristic applies to two or more objects, such as two or more continents. People
tend to align these objects on a common vertical or horizontal axis more than they should be .

Rotation Heuristic
✓ The rotation heuristic applies to single objects, such as a single state, or single
nation, or single island, etc. People tend to rotate the object, so it is better aligned with vertical or
horizontal.

How Domain General or Domain Specific Is Cognition?

Should cognitive psychologists try to find a set of mental processes that is common across all domains of
knowledge representation and processing? Or should they study mental processes specific to a particular
domain?

Fodor’s The Modularity of Mind

✓ the mind is modular, divided into discrete modules that operate, more or less, independently of each
other
✓ each independently functioning module can process only one kind of input, such as language (e.g.,
words), visual percepts (e.g., faces), and so on
✓ the modularity (distinct origins) of lower-level processes such as the basic perceptual processes
involved in lexical access; the application of modularity has been extended to higher intellectual
processes as well

KEY TERMS
Rationalism versus empiricism. How do we assign meaning to concepts? The featural view is largely a
rationalistic one. Concepts have sets of features that are largely a priori and that are the same from one
person to another. The underlying notion is that one could understand a concept by a detailed dictionary
definition, pretty much without reference to people’s experience. The prototype, exemplar, and
theory-based views are much more empirically based. They assign a major role to experience. For
example, theories may change with experience. The theory of a concept such as a “dog” that a 3 -year-old
child has may be very different from that of a 10-year-old child.

Validity of causal inference versus ecological validity. Early research on concepts, such as that of Bruner,
Goodnow, and Austin, used abstract concepts, such as geometric forms that could be of different colors,
shapes, and sizes. But in her work, Eleanor Rosch called this approach into question. Rosch argued that
natural concepts show few of the characteristics of artificial ones. Studying artificial concepts, therefore,
might yield information that applied to those concepts but not necessarily to real-world ones. Modern
researchers tend to study real-world concepts more than artificial ones.

Applied versus basic research. Basic research on concepts has generated a great deal of applied research.
For example, market researchers are very interested in people’s conceptualizations of commercial
products. They use empirical and statistical techniques to understand how products are conceived. Often,
then, advertising serves to reposition the products in customers’ minds. For example, a car that is viewed
as in the category of “economy cars” may be moved, through advertising, to a more “upscale car”
category.