Knowledge

Knowledge

n Concepts

* concepts are mental representations that are accessed for a number of cognitive tasks (reasoning, memory, language faculty)

* access can be deliberate or prompted

Knowledge

n Categorization is the process involved when concepts are put into groups known as categories

* there is no limit to the # of instances of a category, only a limit to the # that you can recall in memory

* there are different levels of categories (more on this later)

Categorization

* categories help us understand instances of a thing that we are envountering for the 1st time

* once you have identified an iten as a member of a known category :

* … you can access the many thing you know about the category members

* … you can focus your attentional resources on the features that make it special

Categorization by Definition

* determining category membership is easier for some things than for other things

* the definitional approach to categorization maintains that we can determine category membership based on whether or not the thing meets the definition for the category

* works well for some things like shapes, and other simple objects

* works not so well for complex things (the suns electromagnetic energy) abstract thoughts (love, resentment)

Categorization by Definition

n Dictionary definition of chair:

¨ “a piece of furniture consisting of a seat, legs, backrest, and often arms, designed to accommodate one person.”

n Can you think of an exception to this?! Of course you can...

Categorization by Similarity

* instead of relying purely on definitional determinants...