One of the hallmarks of human cognition is our ability to work with abstract concepts. Concepts, even concepts like justice, derive from actual real world examples, like learning to be fair as children. To create a concept, we have to form some idea that can relate to multiple real situations. As a result, it is easier to study how we form concepts using a visual stimulus. Take the letter A, for example. Given both upper and lower cases and all the available fonts, it is remarkable that we can so quickly and easily recognize an A as an A. One way to think about this ability is that we store a prototype for the letter A and use this prototype to understand all the individual examples. A prototype in this context is the standard representation from which the examples are derived. This experiment will examine some of the learning processes that play a part in this remarkable ability and examine if prototypes can help us understand this ability.
References:
Posner, M. I., & Keele, S. W. (1968). On the genesis of abstract ideas. Journal of Experimental Psychology,77(3, Pt.1), 353-363.
1.2Experiment Setup
1.3Instructions
Instructions
There are two phases in this experiment: the learning phase and the testing phase. The two phases will run exactly the same way, except that in the testing phase there will be some new random patterns as well as the three prototypes used to make all of the variations.
You will be presented with a pattern of dots drawn from one of three possible patterns. Your job is to indicate which of the three original patterns the dots came from. You may use the buttons below the pattern or the keyboard responses. If you do not know the correct answer, as at the beginning of the learning phase of the experiment, you will need to make a guess. After you respond, you will get feedback as to whether your response was correct.
Key
What Response Means
A
Pattern A
B
Pattern B
C
Pattern C
Spacebar
Random Pattern (in Testing Phase)
1.4Experiment
Begin Experiment
Start Experiment
1.5Results
Results
1.6Quiz
Quiz
Question
1.1
The independent variable for this experiment is:
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct.
Incorrect.
The independent variable is the value that is changed by the experimenter. In this experiment, this variable is the type of pattern in the testing phase.
Question
1.2
The primary dependent variable in this experiment is:
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct.
Incorrect.
The dependent variable is the value the experimenter collects to indicate how you performed in the experiment. In this case, we determined how fast you responded to the different patterns. So the correct answer is reaction time.
Question
1.3
There were variations of a basic pattern used to make many of the dot patterns used in this experiment. That basic pattern is called a:
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
Correct.
Incorrect.
The basic pattern used to generate the variations is called a prototype.
Question
1.4
Which statement below best describes the results found in this experiment?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct.
Incorrect.
The standard finding is that you respond faster and more accurately to the prototype and old variations than to the new variations.
Question
1.5
The conclusion that we form some mental abstract concept or schema derives from the finding that:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct.
Incorrect.
The conclusion about the use of mental abstraction or schemas derives from the finding thatthe prototype is responded to nearly as fast as the old variations.