categorisation

Question 1

what is concept formation

Answer 1

the process of grouping items into categories based on shared properties

Question 2

what is categorisation

Answer 2

dividing stimuli into classes based on similarities

Question 3

why is categorisation important

Answer 3

it allows us to classify and respond to novel stimuli

Question 4

what does it mean that concepts are polymorphous

Answer 4

they do not always have necessary or sufficient defining features

Question 5

give an example of a polymorphous concept

Answer 5

game - no single defining feature applies to all games

Question 6

what is a basic level concept

Answer 6

a category based on perceptual similarity

Question 7

what is a superordinate concept

Answer 7

a broader category grouping different basic level concepts

Question 8

what is an abstract concept

Answer 8

a concept representing a property or relation, not a physical object

Question 9

can animals form basic level concepts

Answer 9

yes

Question 10

what did bhatt et al 1988 show

Answer 10

pigeons could categorise images

Question 11

how was concept formation tested in pigeons

Answer 11

by testing responses to novel exemplars
- they had formed concepts, but performance was lower than for trained stimuli

Question 12

what is exemplar theory

Answer 12

concepts are formed by storing individual examples

Question 13

how are new stimuli classified in exemplar theory

Answer 13

by similarity to stored examples

Question 14

what is prototype theory

Answer 14

concepts are represented by an average of all examples

Question 15

how are new stimuli classified in prototype theory

Answer 15

by similarity to the prototype

Question 16

what does exemplar theory predict about novel stimuli

Answer 16

they are classified worse than familiar stimuli

Question 17

what does prototype theory predict about novel stimuli

Answer 17

some novel stimuli may be classified better than trained ones

Question 18

which theory did early pigeons studies support and why

Answer 18

exemplar theory
- pigeons were more accurate with trained stimuli than novel ones

Question 19

what is the prototype effect

Answer 19

better classification of a prototype than trained examples

Question 20

what did aydin and pearce 1994 find

Answer 20

pigeons responded more to prototypes than training stimuli
- animals may also use prototype like representations

Question 21

do humans store exemplars

Answer 21

yes

Question 22

what did whittlesea show

Answer 22

humans classify stimuli based on similarity to learned examples

Question 23

what pattern supports exemplar theory

Answer 23

performance; list 1 > list 2 > list 3

Question 24

what is feature theory

Answer 24

concepts are formed by learning about component features of stimuli

Question 25

how does feature theory differ from exemplar theory

Answer 25

it focuses on features rather than whole stimuli

Question 26

how are stimuli classified in feature theory

Answer 26

based on shared features with stored representations

Question 27

how can feature theory explain the prototype effect

Answer 27

prototypes contain the most frequently reinforced features

Question 28

what does associative theory propose about categorisation

Answer 28

features become associated with category labels

Question 29

what is blocking

Answer 29

when prior learning prevents new learning about another cue

Question 30

how does blocking relate to categorisation

Answer 30

if a feature already predicts a category, new features are not learned

Question 31

what task did shanks 1990 find

Answer 31

- pps had to predict diseases from symptoms - pps showed blocking in categorisation - pps predicted rare disease more for headache than common one - supports associative learning theory

Question 32

what is special about superordinate categories

Answer 32

members are not physically similar

Question 33

can animals form superordinate categories

Answer 33

yes

Question 34

what did wasserman et al 1992 show

Answer 34

pigeons grouped different items based on shared responses

Question 35

what is an abstract concept

Answer 35

a concept based on relationships, not physical features

Question 36

what is a match to sample task

Answer 36

selecting a stimulus that matches a sample

Question 37

what does poor transfer in the match to sample task suggest

Answer 37

animals may not fully understand abstract concepts

Question 38

how can abstract concept learning be improved in animals

Answer 38

by using more complex and varied training stimuli

Question 39

what did wasserman et al 1995 find about abstract concepts

Answer 39

some evidence that pigeons can generalise abstract concepts