Cognitive Psychology Chapter 7 Knowledge, Part I

Knowing 2/23/2019 December exam Semantic Memory Empirical Tests Models “Now! That should clear up a few things around here!” Knowing December exam Semantic Memory Empirical Tests The sentence verification task Models TLC Feature Comparison Spreading Activation Study Questions. • Describe four well established findings from the sentence verification task. Which of these findings are predicted by TLC and which findings are not handled well by TLC? Which findings can Feature Comparison and Spreading Activation handle?

Knowing December Exam Question A B C D Actual 1 2 1 4 38 D

Knowing December Exam Question A B C D Actual 14 34 5 2 4 A

Knowing December Exam Question A B C D Actual 29 4 30 2 9 B

Knowing December Exam Jeopardy-style Subtractive method Hebb’s synapse Corpus callosum Saccades Geons Endogenous Exogenous Automatic processes Brown-Peterson Recency effect

Knowing December Exam Jeopardy-style Retroactive interference Slave systems Encoding specificity Method of loci Priming Savings score Serial recall Mnemonists Elaborative rehearsal Subjective organization

Knowing Semantic Memory The sentence verification task e.g., True or false: A robin is a bat Findings from the sentence verification task: The true/ false effect In general, our cognitive processes handle positive information better than negative information. E.g., He is honest vs. He is not dishonest

Knowing Semantic Memory Findings from the sentence verification task: The true/ false effect How fast can you spot what is unusual about this paragraph? It looks so ordinary that you might think nothing was wrong with it at all, and, in fact, nothing is. But it is atypical. Why? Study its various parts, think about its curious wording, and you may hit upon a solution. But you must do it without aid; my plan is not to allow any scandalous misconduct in this psychological study. No doubt, if you work hard on this possibly frustrating task, its abnormality will soon dawn upon you. You cannot know until you try. But it is commonly a hard nut to crack. So, good luck! I trust a solution is conspicuous now. Was it dramatic and fair, although odd?

Knowing Semantic Memory Findings from the sentence verification task: Category size effect It is easier to confirm membership in a small category A poodle is a dog Versus A squirrel is an animal

Knowing Semantic Memory Findings from the sentence verification task: Semantic distance effect A.K.A. The typicality effect

Knowing Semantic Memory Findings from the sentence verification task: Semantic priming effect E.g., Loftus (1974) Fruit - a Fruit - b Furniture - s Etc. First item 1.53 secs. Second of two successive “fruit”s - 1.21 secs 1 intervening item - 1.28 secs 2 intervening items - 1.33 secs

Knowing Semantic Memory Collins & Quillian’s TLC

Knowing Semantic Memory Collins & Quillian’s TLC

Knowing Semantic Memory Collins & Quillian’s TLC Assessing TLC Pros • Precursor for other models • Accounts for empirical data • Cognitive Economy - Information is not stored redundantly in Semantic memory if it can be inferred from already stored information.

Knowing Semantic Memory Collins & Quillian’s TLC Assessing TLC Cons • Strictly hierarchical • Only works for “true” propositions • Cannot account for typicality or category size effects

Knowing Semantic Memory Smith et al.’s Feature Comparison Model The meaning of a concept is contained in a bundle of semantic features which are divided into two sets: Characteristic features are not necessary to the meaning, but instead describe the concept and many of its members. Used to make fast confirmations or rejections. e.g., A bird can fly Defining features are necessary to the meaning of the concept. Used to make slow, methodological confirmations or rejections. e.g., A bird has wings

Knowing Semantic Memory Smith et al.’s Feature Comparison Model

Knowing Semantic Memory Smith et al.’s Feature Comparison Model Handling the sentence verification task The true/ false effect • Thresholds, deadlines, list lengths, etc. Semantic distance (typicality) effect • Function of featural overlap Semantic priming effect • Pre-activating feature bundles? Category size effect • May predict the opposite -> Smaller categories have larger number of defining features

Knowing Semantic Memory Smith et al.’s Feature Comparison Model Other Problems Non experts may not be guided by defining features What is the distinction between ‘defining’ and ‘characteristic’ features? Circularity: Relies on subjects’ ratings of similarity to make predictions.

Knowing Semantic Memory Collins & Loftus’ Spreading Activation

Knowing Semantic Memory Collins & Loftus’ Spreading Activation Intersection search Activation spreads from both nodes in the proposition E.g., A robin can breathe When they “encounter one another” an intersection has been found Decision processes determine if the pathway is legitimate

Knowing Semantic Memory Collins & Loftus’ Spreading Activation Intersection search robin breathe has Red Breast Blue eggs bird isa animal can sing feathers fly canary yellow is skin

Knowing Semantic Memory Collins & Loftus’ Spreading Activation Intersection search robin breathe has Red Breast Blue eggs bird isa animal can sing feathers fly canary yellow is skin

Knowing Semantic Memory Collins & Loftus’ Spreading Activation Intersection search robin breathe has Red Breast Blue eggs bird isa animal can sing feathers fly canary yellow is skin

Knowing Semantic Memory Collins & Loftus’ Spreading Activation Intersection search robin breathe has Red Breast Blue eggs bird isa animal can sing feathers fly canary yellow is skin

Knowing Semantic Memory Collins & Loftus’ Spreading Activation Handling the sentence verification task The true/ false effect Semantic distance (typicality) effect • Length of links Semantic priming effect • Spreading Activation Category size effect • The Fan Effect -> Activation as a limited resource