Psychology 1000 Chapter 9-12: Psychology Notes Chapters 9-12

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Lynn Jackson

Document Summary

A mental category that groups objects, relations, activities, abstractions or qualities having common properties. Concepts simplify and summarize information about the world so that it is manageable and so that we can make decisions quickly and efficiently. Concepts that have a moderate number of instances and that are easier to acquire than those having few or many instances (ex. the concept apple is more basic than the concept fruit) Prototype: an especially representative example of a concept. A unit of meaning that is made up of concepts and expresses a single idea (ex. boarder collies are smart) An integrated mental network of knowledge, beliefs, and expectations concerning a particular topic or aspect of the world. People have schemas about cultures, occupations, animals, locations, and many other features of the social / natural environment. A mental representation that mirrors or resembles the thing that it represents. Occur in many and perhaps all sensory modalities.