PSY BEH 11B Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Affix

• School: UC-Irvine
• Department: Psychology and Social Behavior
• Course: PSY BEH 11B
• Professor: Joanne Zinger

Document Summary

Definitional theory of word meaning the theory that mental representations of word meanings consist of a necessary and sufficient set of semantic features: eg: the representations of apple might be round edible, sweet, red, etc. Semantic feature a basic semantic category or concept that cannot be decomposed into smaller or less inclusive categories. According to several strict theories, the basic features are all sensory-perceptual. Prototype theory a theory in which concepts or word meanings are formed around average or typical values: o(cid:373)e thi(cid:374)gs see(cid:373) (cid:862)(cid:373)ore(cid:863) like a (cid:272)ategory tha(cid:374) a(cid:374)other. Eg: parrot is a (cid:862)(cid:271)etter(cid:863) (cid:271)ird tha(cid:374) a pe(cid:374)gui(cid:374) Members of a family that have more of the prototypical features are known as typical smiths or perfect schwartzes. Prototypes the typical or most familiar example of a category. Have well developed ideas (folk theories) about why objects or properties are the way they are: eg: lawnmower can never be made of ice.