Abstract
Current models of semantic memory assume that natural categories are well-defined. Specific predictions of two such models, the Smith, Shoben, and Rips (1974a) two-stage feature comparison model and the Glass and Holyoak (1974/75) ordered search model, were tested and disconfirmed in Experiment I. We propose an alternative model postulating fuzzy categories represented as sets of characteristic properties. This model, combined with a Bayesian decision process, accounts for the results of three additional experiments, as well as for the major findings in the semantic memory literature. We argue that people verify category membership statements by assessing similarity relations between concepts rather than by using information which logically specifies the truth value of the sentence. Our data also imply that natural categories are fuzzy rather than well-defined.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-37 |
| Number of pages | 37 |
| Journal | Cognitive Psychology |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1979 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Linguistics and Language
Cite this
Decision processes in verifying category membership statements : Implications for models of semantic memory. / McCloskey, Michael; Glucksberg, Sam.
In: Cognitive Psychology, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1979, p. 1-37.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Decision processes in verifying category membership statements
T2 - Implications for models of semantic memory
AU - McCloskey, Michael
AU - Glucksberg, Sam
PY - 1979
Y1 - 1979
N2 - Current models of semantic memory assume that natural categories are well-defined. Specific predictions of two such models, the Smith, Shoben, and Rips (1974a) two-stage feature comparison model and the Glass and Holyoak (1974/75) ordered search model, were tested and disconfirmed in Experiment I. We propose an alternative model postulating fuzzy categories represented as sets of characteristic properties. This model, combined with a Bayesian decision process, accounts for the results of three additional experiments, as well as for the major findings in the semantic memory literature. We argue that people verify category membership statements by assessing similarity relations between concepts rather than by using information which logically specifies the truth value of the sentence. Our data also imply that natural categories are fuzzy rather than well-defined.
AB - Current models of semantic memory assume that natural categories are well-defined. Specific predictions of two such models, the Smith, Shoben, and Rips (1974a) two-stage feature comparison model and the Glass and Holyoak (1974/75) ordered search model, were tested and disconfirmed in Experiment I. We propose an alternative model postulating fuzzy categories represented as sets of characteristic properties. This model, combined with a Bayesian decision process, accounts for the results of three additional experiments, as well as for the major findings in the semantic memory literature. We argue that people verify category membership statements by assessing similarity relations between concepts rather than by using information which logically specifies the truth value of the sentence. Our data also imply that natural categories are fuzzy rather than well-defined.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0002732346&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0010-0285(79)90002-1
DO - 10.1016/0010-0285(79)90002-1
M3 - Article
VL - 11
SP - 1
EP - 37
JO - Cognitive Psychology
JF - Cognitive Psychology
SN - 0010-0285
IS - 1
ER -