PSYCH 2H03 Lecture Notes - Prototype Theory, Dachshund, Exemplar Theory
12 Jan 2014
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Concept a mental representation. Category the set of entities or examples described by the concept. Functions of concepts: classification, understanding, prediction, reasoning, communication. Hard to come up w/ a good definition. Maybe there"s a good one, we just haven"t come up with it yet: dogs have 4 legs. We have a concept of what a dog is, w/o having to undertake dna testing. Most of our knowledge isn"t based on definitions. Family resemblance: members of a category have a family resemblance to each other. Some features in common, but not every member has to have those features. Diff members have diff features in common. This leads to a probabilistic definition. Captures the resemblance idea: the typical , center , ideal , or average of a category. There are really doggy dogs & dogs that aren"t very doggy. Superordinate level vehicle, animal: basic level category car, dog. Subordinate level grey 2004 toyota echo, caramel dachshund named george.
