Chapter 10: Concepts and Knowledge

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. How does the ability to categorize help humans?

a. Categories help us create helpful stereotypes to follow and add to.

b. If we know something belongs to a certain category, we do not need to remember the properties of that category for that item.

c. If we know something belongs to a certain category, we do not need to relearn the properties of that category for that item.

d. Categories help us create helpful prototypes to follow and add to.

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction: Game Night

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. A mental representation of a category of things in the world is known as a(n) ______.

a. stereotype

b. prototype

c. example

d. concept

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: What Are Concepts?

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. The view of concepts as definitions with lists of necessary and sufficient properties can be traced as far back as ______.

a. ancient Roman thinkers

b. Sigmund Freud

c. B. F. Skinner

d. early Greek philosophers

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Classical Approach: Concepts as Definitions

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein argued against the definition approach by proposing a theory of ______.

a. familiarity

b. family resemblance

c. similarity

d. categorical comparison

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Theoretical Problems With Definitions as Concepts

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. In psychology, “family resemblance” means that people, objects, or concepts in a category ______.

a. share overlapping sets of features

b. share a single set of defining features

c. may seem identical but differ in important ways

d. may seem identical but differ in subtle ways

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Theoretical Problems With Definitions as Concepts

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Your psychology professor asks you and your classmates to write down the necessary and sufficient features of a pet. Based on what you have read in this chapter, what would you expect to find when you read your classmates' definitions?

a. nearly precise agreement because everyone in the class has the same idea of a simple concept like “pet”

b. general agreement, but not as precise an agreement as you would see if the professor asked the class to categorize a series of photographs of pets and non-pets

c. more precise agreement than you would see if the professor asked the class to categorize a series of photos of pets and non-pets

d. about the same level of agreement that you would see if the professor asked the class to categorize a series of photographs of pets and non-pets

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Theoretical Problems With Definitions as Concepts

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. A result in which more common members of a category show a processing advantage is known as the ______.

a. typicality effect

b. family resemblance view

c. similarity effect

d. prototype approach

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Empirical Problems With Definitions as Concepts

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. According to Rosch & Mervis (1975), which of the following is an example of a less typical member of the category of “furniture”?

a. chair

b. sofa

c. table

d. lamp

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Empirical Problems With Definitions as Concepts

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Which of these is TRUE of the definition approach to concepts?

a. It is unnecessarily complicated and difficult to understand.

b. It works poorly for many “real-life” situations (as opposed to pure mathematics).

c. Its necessary and sufficient features are self-evident.

d. It has been the preferred approach to concepts for the last 50 years.

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Empirical Problems With Definitions as Concepts

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Eleanor Rosch proposed the ______ approach, a theoretical view of concepts that she considered superior to the classical approach.

a. typicality

b. prototype

c. abstract representational

d. weighted average

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Prototype Approach

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. The prototype of a category is a(n) ______ of the important features of its members.

a. discussion

b. detailed list

c. weighted average

d. exemplar

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Prototype Approach

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. You want to design a study that explores the exemplar approach. What is the best way to prevent people from applying their previous knowledge to the questions you ask them?

a. Ask questions about an obscure concept that few people have studied.

b. Make sure that your questions are about common concepts familiar to all your research subjects.

c. Invent an artificial concept and ask your research subjects questions about it.

d. Include a survey with your questions so that you understand how extensive your research subjects' knowledge is.

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts mentally represented?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Exemplar Approach

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Which of these examples is the poorest fit for the concept of a game?

a. a spinning top

b. poker

c. tic-tac-toe

d. rock-paper-scissors

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Prototype Approach

Difficulty Level: Hard

14. Rosa is participating in an experiment in which she must name prototypical examples of animals similar to robins. Which of the following is she most likely to indicate as being similar to a robin?

a. blue jay

b. ostrich

c. duck

d. goose

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Prototype Approach

Difficulty Level: Hard

15. The major difference between the exemplar approach and the prototype approach is that in the exemplar approach, people make comparisons ______.

a. between more recent rather than older memories

b. between older rather than more recent memories

c. to abstractions rather than memories of actual experiences

d. to memories of actual experiences rather than to an abstraction of those experiences

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Exemplar Approach

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. If an object is ______ typical of a concept, then people will recall ______ members of that concept.

a. less; more

b. more; fewer

c. less; fewer

d. approximately; no

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Exemplar Approach

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. You see a blue jay for the first time. Based on what you have read about the exemplar approach, which of the following is most likely to come to mind after you see the blue jay?

a. cardinal

b. chicken

c. swan

d. ostrich

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts mentally represented?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Exemplar Approach

Difficulty Level: Hard

18. Barsalou (1985) examined goal-derived concepts, which are categories of things grouped together based on ______.

a. how familiar their features are to the typical research subject

b. divergent structural features

c. shared observable features

d. how well their members satisfy a particular purpose

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts mentally represented?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Concepts Based on World Knowledge Approach

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. Which of these is an example of a goal-derived concept?

a. healthful foods

b. types of beans

c. research subjects who are older than age 25

d. birds of North America

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts mentally represented?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Concepts Based on World Knowledge Approach

Difficulty Level: Hard

20. The unique aspect of Barsalou’s work was to study things that are grouped together by their ______.

a. central tendency

b. frequency of instantiation

c. satisfaction of goal qualifications

d. granular distinctiveness

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts mentally represented?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Concepts Based on World Knowledge Approach

Difficulty Level: Easy

21. Barsalou (1985) defined the “ideal” as ______.

a. how often an item was considered a member of a category

b. a measure of family resemblance

c. how completely an item fulfilled a goal

d. the least likely item to come to mind when asked to recall an object

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts mentally represented?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Concepts Based on World Knowledge Approach

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. How does Barsalou's perceptual symbols theory differ from the other theories of how we represent perceptual knowledge?

a. Barsalou's theory is based on neural networks and mathematical patterns.

b. Ancient philosophers championed this theory, but then it fell out of favor until Barsalou rediscovered and revised it.

c. The perceptual symbols theory is the most widely investigated and accepted theory.

d. Barsalou's theory includes actions and sensory details.

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts mentally represented?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Other Alternative Approaches to Concepts

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. “If desserts are a type of food, and pavlova is a type of dessert, then pavlova must be a type of food with all the properties of food.” This is an example of what type of relationship?

a. transitive

b. reductionist

c. neural network

d. simplified

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Conceptual Hierarchies

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. Categories higher in a conceptual hierarchy are ______ to lower levels, while categories lower are ______ to higher levels.

a. auxiliary; peripheral

b. subordinate; superordinate

c. superordinate; subordinate

d. peripheral; auxiliary

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Conceptual Hierarchies

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. The game “Family Feud,” where the goal is to name the most common object, place, or person in a category, is likely based on ______ concepts.

a. goal-derived

b. basic-level

c. super-level

d. sub-level

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Basic-Level Concepts

Difficulty Level: Medium

26. Why do you think parents tend to use basic-level concepts when speaking to their children?

a. These concepts are easier to differentiate because they do not usually share common shapes and movements.

b. They know that children are not cognitively developed enough to learn more specific categories.

c. These concepts are specific enough to be useful but general enough to avoid confusion.

d. People tend to use basic-level concepts when speaking to those they feel emotionally close to.

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Basic-Level Concepts

Difficulty Level: Hard

27. Superordinate concepts are usually ______, while subordinate concepts tend to be ______.

a. Informative but not as distinctive; distinctive and informative

b. Distinctive but not as informative; informative but not as distinctive

c. Distinctive and informative; neither distinctive nor informative

d. Neither distinctive nor informative; distinctive and informative

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Basic-Level Concepts

Difficulty Level: Easy

28. You take a temporary job as a house sitter. The homeowner tells you, “Part of your job will be to feed the animals.” You want more specific information, so you ask, “What kind of animals?” To a psychologist, what kind of concept are you asking for?

a. subordinate

b. superordinate

c. basic

d. neuronal

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Basic-Level Concepts

Difficulty Level: Medium

29. Which type of organizational approach was proposed by Collins and Quillian and includes “has,” “is,” and “can” links?

a. general hierarchical

b. stored network

c. feature comparisons

d. neuroscience based

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stored-Network Approaches

Difficulty Level: Easy

30. The idea that concept information is stored at the most efficient level of the hierarchy is known as a ______ economy.

a. super-specialized

b. verification

c. resourceful

d. cognitive

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stored-Network Approaches

Difficulty Level: Easy

31. Collins and Loftus created a revised semantic network model to ______.

a. violate the transitive inheritance of properties

b. give each connection between concepts the same weight

c. try to account for typicality effects

d. show that people do not use hierarchies when organizing concepts

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Stored-Network Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

32. Imagine seeing a hairless cat for the first time. You try to rationalize whether this is in fact a cat, and you reason, “It has four legs, two pointy ears, a pointy nose, and claws; it is probably a cat.” This exemplifies the ______.

a. stored network view

b. feature comparisons approach

c. cognitive economy

d. neuroscience-inspired approach

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Feature Comparisons Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

33. The feature comparison approach argues that people use their ______ abilities rather than a ______ to compare two concepts.

a. reasoning; knowledge network

b. classification; hierarchy

c. categorization; series of steps

d. emotional; mental template

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Feature Comparisons Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

34. Which type of organizational approach involves case studies of research subjects who have age-related reasoning deficits?

a. stored network

b. basic level

c. neuroscience-inspired

d. feature comparisons

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Neuroscience-Inspired Approaches

Difficulty Level: Easy

35. People with ______ experience worsening deterioration of their conceptual knowledge.

a. episodic dementia

b. Broca’s aphasia

c. Wernicke’s aphasia

d. semantic dementia

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Neuroscience-Inspired Approaches

Difficulty Level: Easy

36. Based on what you have read, which of these is an accurate statement about how people organize concepts?

a. Humans rarely group concepts into similar categories unless society explicitly teaches this behavior.

b. Concepts are isolated representations floating around in unstructured semantic memory spaces.

c. People who are from different cultures and speak different languages tend to organize concepts into similar categories.

d. Individual conceptual categories usually vary widely depending on an individual's emotional state.

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Summary of Conceptual Organization

Difficulty Level: Medium

37. Your aunt introduces you to the small dog she just adopted. In your experience, small dogs usually bark loudly and insistently, so you believe this dog will too. What would a psychologist call this reasoning?

a. theoretical conceptualizing

b. experiential structuring

c. beyond categorization

d. category induction

Learning Objective: 10-4: What do we use concepts for?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Stored-Network Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

38. Your friend tells you that she just got a new golden retriever that is two years old. You assume that it has yellowish fur and is a fairly large dog. Your thoughts are an example of category ______.

a. reduction

b. induction

c. specification

d. generation

Learning Objective: 10-4: What do we use concepts for?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Category Induction

Difficulty Level: Medium

40. In picturing a scientist, you may automatically think of a person with a white lab coat, disheveled hair, and glasses. This is an example of a(n) ______.

a. exemplar

b. prototype

c. stereotype

d. definition

Learning Objective: 10-4: What do we use concepts for?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Stereotypes

Difficulty Level: Medium

41. Which of these is a reasonable criticism of the research you read about in this chapter?

a. The concepts that researchers have studied have been too complex to reflect how most people categorize most of the time.

b. Researchers have concentrated almost exclusively on the part of the brain that processes and stores concepts.

c. Studying individuals who have reasoning deficits does not help us understand cognitive function in neurotypical people.

d. The concepts that researchers have studied have been fairly simple and therefore not reflective of real-world conceptual categorization.

Learning Objective: 10-4: What do we use concepts for?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Future of Research and Theory of Concepts

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. The definitional approach to concepts is the most widely accepted view.

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Empirical Problems With Definitions as Concepts

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. The typicality effect is among the most common empirical findings in cognitive psychology.

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Empirical Problems With Definitions as Concepts

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. The idea that concepts are represented based on a typical instance of that concept is known as the prototype approach.

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts mentally represented?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Prototype Approach

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. The definitional approach to concepts proposes that people develop general concepts based on specific examples they have experienced.

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Classical Approach: Concepts as Definitions

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. A person’s memory of his or her childhood dog fueling that person’s feelings for all future dogs is an example of the exemplar approach.

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts mentally represented?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Exemplar Approach

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. The prototype approach is based on abstractions of concepts.

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts mentally represented?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Prototype Approach

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. “The three branches of government” is an example of a set of goal-derived concepts.

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts mentally represented?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Concepts Based on World Knowledge Approach

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Research has shown that concepts are typically structured hierarchically.

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Conceptual Hierarchies

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Research has shown that basic-level concepts tend to be privileged over other levels.

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Basic-Level Concepts

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Much of what we read or hear in news media reports has to do with the positive outcomes of stereotypes.

Learning Objective: 10-4: What do we use concepts for?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Stereotypes

Difficulty Level: Medium

Short Answer

1. In your own words, explain why the classical approach of concepts as definitions has fallen out of favor.

Learning Objective: 10-1: What is a concept?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Classical Approach: Concepts as Definitions

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Distinguish between the prototype and exemplar approaches to concepts. Define and give an example of each.

Learning Objective: 10-2: How are concepts mentally represented?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Alternative Approaches to Concepts

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Compare and contrast these organizational approaches to concepts: stored-network and feature comparisons. Give an example of each.

Learning Objective: 10-3: How are concepts and knowledge organized?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Organizational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Since most of us know that stereotypes can be extremely harmful, why do our brains keep producing them? Explain and provide an example.

Learning Objective: 10-4: What do we use concepts for?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Stereotypes

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Discuss the research regarding the way experts process information in their own area of expertise as opposed to areas outside of their expertise. Provide an example.

Learning Objective: 10-4: What do we use concepts for?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Expertise

Difficulty Level: Hard