PSYC 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Concept Class, Mental Representation, Snoring
PSYC 200 Chapter 8
Cognition
• Cognition: Mentally processing information (images, concepts, etc.); thinking
• Cognitive Psychology: Study of human information processing (thinking)
• Thinking = Internal Representation: Mental expression of a problem or situation
Basic Units of Thought
• Image: Mental representation that has picture-like qualities; an icon
o Ex) Picture apple in your mind
• Concept: Generalized idea representing a class of related objects or events
• Language: Words or symbols, and rules for combining them, that are used for thinking
and communication
Nature of Mental Images
• Mental Rotation:
o A mental process that alters the position/orientation of an image in mental
space.
o We etall pik up a ojet ad turn it around
o Blocks: Dependent variables → if correct & how long to respond?
o Brain: If form a mental image, then brain being activated in REVERSE order
▪ Brain activated to same degree as if actually visualizing mental image
▪ Basketball player visualization of playing same brain activation as actually
playing
Concept Formation
• Concept Formation: Process of classifying information into meaningful categories;
based on experience with positive and negative instances (examples that belong, or do
not belong, to the concept class).
• Conceptual Rule: Formal rule for deciding if an object or event is an example of a
particular concept.
o Ex) If a bean bag fits the concept of a chair (you can sit on it, but no 4 legs)
• Exemplars: Stored representations of individual experiences. (if diff, prototype diff)
• Prototype: An ideal model used as a prime example of a particular concept
o Ex) list ed, pillo, sorig, tired, ight -→ ppl piked sleep 2nd time
o Ppl more confident in saying that the prototype was on list than actual words
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Types of Concepts
• Conjunctive Concept: Class of objects that have 2+ features in common.
(Ex. to qualify as an example of the concept an object must be both red AND triangular)
• Relational Concept: Concept defined by the relationship between features of an object
or between an object and its surrounding. (Ex. table → objects have to sit on it)
• Disjunctive Concept: Concept defined by the presence of at least one of several possible
features. (Ex. to qualify an object must be either blue OR circular.)
• Cup Image: Chose 5 as the prototype as the best cup
o 3 concepts – cups, bowls & vases – but similar physically
• Pliers image: b & c are harder to identity – have not encountered
enough examples of them → no prototype
o Context can substitute for a lack of appropriate prototypes
in concept identification
2 Kinds of Meaning
• Denotative Meaning: The exact, dictionary definition of a word/concept;
its ojetie eaig.
• Connotative Meaning: The subjective, personal, or emotional meaning of a
word/concept
o Ex) In connotative meaning → varies; (+) or (-) association will affect it
Language
• Grammar: A set of rules for combining language units into meaningful speech or writing.
• Syntax: Rules for ordering words when forming sentences.
• Transformation Rules: Rules by which a simple declarative sentence may be changed to
other voices/forms (past tense, passive voice, and so forth).
• Productivity: The capacity of language to generate new ideas and possibilities
o Ex) young kids repeat sentences → as gets older they form own sentences
o Children often experience a moment of word explosion (despite environment →
Chomsky thinking its innate/biological)
Problem Solving (lowest)
• We can use a variety of different methods/approaches to solve problems.
• Trial and Error: Try several approaches until (if you are lucky) one works.
o Least advanced – children often use this
o Random Search Strategy: All possibilities are tried, more or less randomly.
Mechanical Solutions (middle)
• Algorithm: Set of rules/steps that always leads to correct solution
• Systematic – Ex. Solve for x (isolate x on 1 side of equation)
o Can still lack understanding
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