Conceptual preference for thematic or taxonomic relations: A nonmonotonic age trend from preschool to old age

Smiley, Sandra S.; Brown, Ann L.

doi:10.1016/0022-0965(79)90087-0

Cited by 213 publications

(283 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The individual differences observed in the present experiments, although substantial, do not necessarily reflect large variability in conceptual knowledge; participants who categorize thematically are aware of the logic behind taxonomic categorization, and vice versa (Smiley & Brown, 1979). Likewise, participants in similarity tasks of the sort reported here likely are aware of both thematic and taxonomic information.…”

Section: Disagreement In Similarity 35contrasting

confidence: 48%

Individual differences in the perception of similarity and difference

Simmons

Estes

2008

Cognition

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Thematically related concepts like coffee & milk are judged to be more similar than thematically unrelated concepts like coffee & lemonade. We investigated whether thematic relations exert a small effect that occurs consistently across participants (i.e., a generalized model), or a large effect that occurs inconsistently across participants (i.e., an individualized model). We also examined whether difference judgments mirrored similarity or whether these judgments were, in fact, non-inverse. Five studies demonstrated the necessity of an individualized model for both perceived similarity and difference, and additionally provided evidence that thematic relations affect similarity more than difference. Results suggest that models of similarity and difference must be attuned to large and consistent individual variability in the weighting of thematic relations.KEYWORDS: dual process model; individual differences; non-inversion; perceived difference; perceived similarity; thematic relations. DISAGREEMENT IN SIMILARITY 3Similarity and difference are fundamental to cognition. They determine, in large part, the recognition of familiar objects and the categorization of novel objects, and they drive inferences about an object's features and its predicted behavior in a novel context. Essentially, similarity and difference have been implicated in nearly every cognitive process from perceptual classification to economic decision-making. Given that similarity and difference influence so many other cognitive processes, then, it is crucial to determine what factors influence the perceptions of similarity and difference themselves.Some potentially important factors remain underspecified in contemporary models of similarity and difference. For example, perceived similarity and difference may exhibit large individual differences (Simmons & Estes, 2008), but current models fail to account for this presumed variability. Moreover, the relationship between similarity and difference appears to be surprisingly complex (Medin, Goldstone, and Gentner, 1990), and current models do not adequately explain this relationship. Below we report five studies that investigate directly these currently unresolved issues. We first review the major models of semantic similarity, with particular emphasis on the dual process model (Bassok & Medin, 1997;Estes, 2003;Simmons & Estes, 2008;Wisniewski & Bassok, 1999), and then we summarize the literature on the relationship between similarity and difference. Models of SimilarityIn general, similarity can be described in terms of three types of information: features, structural relations, and thematic relations. Of these, features make the most intuitive contribution -the more features that two things have in common, the more similar they are.This intuition is formalized in the contrast model (Tversky, 1977) The structural alignment model (Gentner & A. B. Markman, 1994 A. B. Markman, 1996;A. B. Markman & Gentner, 1993a, 1993b) provides a solution to this problem. According to this model, one's concept...

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Section: Disagreement In Similarity 35contrasting

confidence: 48%

Individual differences in the perception of similarity and difference

Simmons

Estes

2008

Cognition

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“…As B comparisons were, indeed, rated more perceptually similar to A comparisons than C comparisons, subjects chose B comparisons to match with A in the A(BC) trial type. (Bauer & Mandler, 1989;Osborne & Koppel, 2001;Smiley & Brown, 1979). In the present studies, there was no formal modeling, and with the exception of the presentation of a subsequent trial, there were no systematic outcomes that were a result of responding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…In the present studies, there was no formal modeling, and with the exception of the presentation of a subsequent trial, there were no systematic outcomes that were a result of responding. To this point it is interesting to note that in the Smiley & Brown (1979) study, the model was observed in a first session, and the model's behavior was influential in providing a context for subject behavior as either thematic or taxonomic. In the next session, in the absence of the model, subjects tended to revert to the type of selections they had made prior to observing the model in the prior session (Smiley & Brown, 1979).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To this point it is interesting to note that in the Smiley & Brown (1979) study, the model was observed in a first session, and the model's behavior was influential in providing a context for subject behavior as either thematic or taxonomic. In the next session, in the absence of the model, subjects tended to revert to the type of selections they had made prior to observing the model in the prior session (Smiley & Brown, 1979). Explicit or implicit ratings of relation strength may be valid only in the absence of (programmed) reinforcement and modeling.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using this task, the data less typically support the age-related hypothesis. Rather, selection of comparison stimuli relates to contextual variables such as reinforcement for one type of selection (Bauer & Mandler, 1989;Osborne & Koppel, 2001), observation of a model differentially selecting comparisons of one kind or another (Smiley & 55 Brown, 1979), receipt of instructions that suggest taxonomic selection (Osborne & Calhoun, 1998;Waxman & Namy, 1997), or control by specific contextual stimuli (Osborne & Koppel, 2001). Moreover, individual subjects exhibit differential frequencies of taxonomic or thematic selections (Dunham & Dunham, 1995: Osborne & Calhoun, 1998.…”

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confidence: 99%

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