PSYC 205 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Concept Learning, Railways Act 1921
15 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
OUTLINE
Week 8/Lecture 7: Categorization and Concept Formation
Lecture Outline
FAQ/News
Introduction
Concepts vs. Categorization
Categorization
Perceptual Categorization
Social Categorization
Concept Formation
Elemental Theory
Exemplar Theory
Prototype Theory
1 Introduction: Concepts vs. Categorization
CATEGORIZATION: process of classifying items or events into groups based on one or
more common features. Grouping things for some perceptual or abstract reason.
CONCEPTS: abstract set of rules that define membership in a category
Concepts can change over time:
Conceptual formation is a dynamic process and can continue for as long as you
have new, relevant experiences.
- Conceptual change comes from some experience. It happens when we
realize that other things fit into the categories.
- E.g. having a category of things that are alive and then adding plants to this
category after you realize that they are alive too
Do other species – or even human infants – form concepts?
You can have categories without concepts
e.g. vervet monkeys must be able to recognize that the African leopards sometimes look
different and must know when to run and hide. The call they make when they see
leopards is different than the call they make when they see a hawk (another predator) –
the other monkeys don’t have to see the leopard, they just need to hear the sound and
then they hide in the trees. Do they have a concept of the differences in predators?
They may.
2 Categorization
Four types of Categorization discussed in the textbook:
Perceptual Categorization
Functional Categorization
Relational Categorization
Social Categorization
PERCEPTUAL CATEGORIZATION: Sensory input is used to identify similarities among
stimuli and group them together
Often examined through Stimulus Generalization Tests: Stimulus generalization
tests determine how variations in a sensory dimension (e.g., sound) alter
responding. This provides clues as to how subjects categorize stimuli with
common features.
- Generalizing across stimulus
- Way of tapping into perceptual categorization
Example 1: In class demo
- Two bins – one with yellow circle, and one with blue
- Sort colours – yellow colours went with yellow bin and blue colours went in
blue bin
-
Document Summary
Categorization: process of classifying items or events into groups based on one or more common features. Grouping things for some perceptual or abstract reason. Concepts: abstract set of rules that define membership in a category. Conceptual formation is a dynamic process and can continue for as long as you have new, relevant experiences. It happens when we realize that other things fit into the categories. E. g. having a category of things that are alive and then adding plants to this category after you realize that they are alive too. You can have categories without concepts e. g. vervet monkeys must be able to recognize that the african leopards sometimes look different and must know when to run and hide. Four types of categorization discussed in the textbook: Perceptual categorization: sensory input is used to identify similarities among stimuli and group them together.
