Knowledge

Lecture 9
Cognition , 6th Edition -
Margaret W. Matlin 2006

Lecturer: Mariyam Nashaya Hassan

Lecturer in Psychology
Faculty of Educational Studies
Villa College
Class Activity- Discussion
 2 groups

1. Feature Comparison Model

2. Prototype Approach
Agenda
• How knowledge influences cognitive process such as memory and spatial cognition.

• Semantic Memory and Schemas

 Structure of Semantic Memory
• Semantic Memory – organized knowledge about the world.
• Episodic Memory?

Information about events that happen to us

Eg: SM – knowledge or information, but unclear how information is acquired

Male’ is the capital of Maldives

Paris – capital of France

EM – always implies the phrase…eg: “it happened to me”

EM emphasizes where or how the event occurred

Eg: EM would be --- “ today I learnt that Paris is the capital of France”
 Semantic Memory - SM
• SM is broader than the word “semantic” it self

• Encyclopedic Knowledge, language knowledge, conceptual knowledge

• Therefore SM is required to determine locations, read sentences, solve

problems and make decisions.

• Categories and concepts are important components of SM

• Categories are used to make sense of our world.

SM -Categories
• Class of objects that belong together.
• Eg: Vehicles, furniture, glass ware
• Variety of objects represent a certain category

• Concepts – mental representations of a category

• Concept of a “table” – mental representation of the objects in that
category
SM
• Semantic memory allows to code the objects.
• This process reduces the storage space – many can be stored
with the same label.
• Concepts also allows to make inferences – when encountered
with new samples - attributes
• SM- allows to make combine similar objects into single
concept
• How?
Feature comparison model, prototype approach, exemplar
approach, network models
 FEATURE COMPARISON MODEL (FCM) –
(Smith et al., 1974)
• Concepts are stored in memory
according to a list of necessary
features or characteristics
• Decision are made using these
concepts
• Defining features – attributes that
are necessary to the meaning of the
item
• Characteristic features – those
attributes that are mere descriptive,
but not essential.
 FEATURE COMPARISON MODEL (FCM) –
(Smith et al., 1974)

• Defining features – attributes that are necessary to the meaning of the

item
• Example: The defining features of a robin include that it is living and has
feathers and a red breast.
• Characteristic features – those attributes that are mere descriptive, but
not essential.
• Example: The characteristic features of a robin include that it flies, perches in
trees, is not domesticated, and is small in size.
 Research on the FCM –
Sentence Verification Technique
• Answer as quickly as possible Findings
either “True” or “False” Typicality Effect – people reach decision faster
1. A poodle is a dog when an item is a typical member of a category,
2. A squirrel is an animal rather than an unusual member.
3. A flower is a rock
Major problem with FCM is that very few of the
4. A carrot is a vegetable
concepts we use in everyday life can be
5. A mango is a fruit
captured by a specific list of necessary features (
6. A petunia is a tree Burgess & Lund, 2000: Hahn & Chater. 1997;
7. A robin is a bird Wisniewski, 2002)
8.A rutabaga is a vegetable
 Conclusion - FCM

• FCM can account for the typicality effect.

• HOWEVER, research does not support the idea that category

membership is based on list of necessary features

• Problem – FCM assumption that the individual features are

independent of one another.
• Example: objects that have leaves are not likely to have legs or fur. In contrast,
objects that have fur are highly likely to have legs

• Many features are correlated for concepts found in nature.

 Prototype Approach – (Eleanor Rosch, 1973)

• Cognitive reference point

• Deciding whether an item belongs to a category by comparing that item with

a prototype

• a robin or a sparrow can be regarded as a prototype or a "good example" of

the category bird, whereas a penguin or an ostrich is a rather "bad example"
of this category.

• If different from prototype -place it in a different category where it is more

closely resembles that category’s prototype.
Prototype is an abstract, idealized
example
Prototypicality: Members of the
category differ in their prototypically or
degree to which they are prototypical

Eg: A robin and a sparrow –

prototypical birds
Ostriches and Penguins –
nonprototypes
 Difference
FCM
▪ Items belong to a category as long
as it possess the necessary and
sufficient features
▪ Category membership is very clear
cut
▪ Eg: Bachelor
▪ Male and unmarried
▪ What about a 2 year old boy?
▪ Elderly priest?
▪ Conclusion: All bachelors
Prototypes
▪ Not all members of the category
‘bachelor” are created equal
▪ Instead a 32 years old cousin –
more suitable
▪ Category tends to have a graded
structure, beginning with the
most representative or
prototypical members and
continuing on through the
category’s non protoypical
members.
 Characteristics of Prototypes
1. Prototypes are supplied as examples of a category (Mervis,
Catlin and Rosch, 1976)
▪ Constructed norms – asking people to provide examples of eight different
categories
▪ Birds, fruits, sports, weapons
▪ Asked a different group to supply prototypes ratings for each examples
▪ Statistical analysis – items that were rated most prototypical were the same items
that people supplied most often in the category norms.
▪ Eg: for category bird – robin was listed as an example
▪ Rated penguin as low on prototype scale – rarely as an example for bird category
▪ Prototype accounts well for typicality effect – similar to FCM
 Characteristics of Prototypes

2.Judged more quickly after semantic priming

▪ Semantic Priming effect – people respond faster to an item if it was

preceded by a similar item.

▪ Eg: makes quicker judgement , if you had just seen the word.

▪ Eg Apple – fruit than the word “giraffe”

▪ Priming facilitates to responses to prototypes more than it facilitates

the response to non prototypes
 Characteristics of Prototypes
3. Shares attributes in a family resemblance category
▪ Family resemblance – no single attribute is shared by all examples of a
concept: however, each example has at least one attribute in common
with some other example of the concept
▪ Eg: “Game” – monopoly, scrabble, volley ball - competition
 Levels of Categorization
Superordinate Level - higher
level or more general
categories

Basic Level – moderately

specific

Subordinate level – lower level

or more specific categories
Basic level categories- special privileges
1. Used to identify objects:
• Try naming some of the objects that you can see from where you are sitting. You are likely to use
basic-level names for these objects.

2. More likely to produce the priming effect

3. Different levels of categorization activates different parts of the brain

4. Experts use subordinate categories differently

• Johnson and Mervis (1997) found that bird-watching experts provided very specific names for
birds, such as yellow throated warbler, whereas the novices uniformly supplied the basic-level
term bird.
 Conclusion – Prototype Approach

• Account for our ability to form concepts for groups that are loosely
structured

• Works especially well when the members of a category have no single

characteristic in common
 Exemplar Approach

• First learn some specific examples of a concept

• Then classify each new stimulus by deciding how closely it resembles

those specific examples – numerous examples of dogs
 Network Models

• Network- arrangement of threads in a net like structure

• Network model – net-like organization of concepts in memory with

many interconnections
 Network Models – Collins and Loftus (1975)

• Hypothetical networks

• Semantic memory is organized in terms of net-like structures with

many interconnections, when we retrieve information , activation
spreads to related concepts

• Each concept can be represented as a node or location in the network

• Link connects a particular node with another concept node the

collection of nodes and links forms a network.
 Parallel Distributed processing (PDP) Approach-
(James McClelland, 1981)

• Cognitive processes can be represented by a model in which activation

flows through networks that link together a large number of simple,
neuron – like units

• Also known Connectionism and neural networks

• Each individual’s characteristics are connected in a mutually

stimulating network

• If the connections among the characteristics are well established through

extensive practice
 Characteristics of PDP approach

1. Cognitive processes are based on parallel operations – many patterns of

activation may be proceeding simultaneously.

2. Knowledge is stored in the association of connection among the basic units.

Knowledge is distributed in a pattern of activity across many locations.

3. Network contains basic neuron-like units or nodes, which are connected

together so that a specific unit has many links to other cognitive processes

4. Connection weights determine how much activation one unit can pass onto
another
 Characteristics of PDP approach

5. When units reaches critical level activation – affect another unit by

exciting or by inhibiting it.

6. Every new event changes the strength of connections among relevant

units by adjusting the connection weights – learn from experience

7. Partial memory:tip –of-the-tongue phenomenon – know which

target you are seeking but cannot retrieved actual target.
 Current status of the theory

• Theorists argue PDP approach works better for some kinds of cognitive
tasks than others

• PDP works better with tasks that operates at the same time

• Eg: pattern recognition, categorization, memory speech

• Other cognitive tasks demand more serial processing.

• Eg: language use, problem solving and reasoning - higher mental

processing - artificial intelligence approaches and other models more
effective
SCHEMAS AND SCRIPTS
 Background on Schemas and Scripts

• Schema theories – people encode in their memory “generic” information about a situation

• Schemas guide – recognition and understanding of new examples by providing expectations

about what should occur.

• Schema – top down process

• Predict what will happen in a new situation

• Schemas are heuristics – general rules that are accurate – but may lead to errors
 Background on Schemas and Scripts
• Script – simple, well structured sequence of events – in a specific order –
associated with familiar activity

• An abstraction, a prototype of a series of events that share an underlying similarity

• Schema and scripts – used interchangeably

• Script - narrower term

• Understand that many everyday events unfold in a specified order

• Script – more accurate if clearly identified in advance

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