Cited by 182Categorization, perception, and languageMemory Processes and InfluencesReading and Literacy Development

Isolated and interrelated concepts

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Goldstone, Robert L.·1996·Memory & Cognition

Abstract

A continuum between purely isolated and purely interrelated concepts is described. Along this continuum, a concept is interrelated to the extent that it is influenced by other concepts. Methods for manipulating and identifying a concept's degree of interrelatedness are introduced. Relatively isolated concepts can be empirically identified by a relatively large use of nondiagnostic features, and by better categorization performance for a concept's prototype than for a caricature of the concept. Relatively interrelated concepts can be identified by minimal use of nondiagnostic features, and by better categorization performance for a caricature than for a prototype. A concept is likely to be relatively isolated when subjects are instructed to create images for their concepts rather than find discriminating features, when concepts are given unrelated labels, and when the categories that are displayed alternate rarely between trials. The entire set of manipulations and measurements supports a graded distinction between isolated and interrelated concepts. The distinction is applied to current models of category learning, and a connectionist framework for interpreting the empirical results is presented.

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  • Goldstone (1996) found better performance when categories alternated on 25% of trials than on 75% of trials, indicating that less frequent alternation produced more learning.

    “More recently, Goldstone (1996) found better performance when categories alternated on 25 % of the trials than when they alternated on 75 % of the trials-that is, less-frequent alternation appeared to produce more learning.”
  • Although the present results seem inconsistent with prior studies showing blocked practice benefits, the described framework may explain the divergence.

    “Although the present pattern of results seems inconsistent with prior studies of inductive learning that have demonstrated a benefit of blocked practice (Goldstone, 1996;Kurtz & Hovland, 1956;Whitman & Garner, 1963), the conceptual framework just described may offer an explanation of these apparently divergent results.”
  • Categories are defined by both similarities and differences, and these dimensions are not completely independent.

    “Categories can be defined by both similarities and differences, and these two dimensions are not completely independent (see Goldstone, 1996, for a discussion of the degree to which these concepts are isolated vs. interrelated).”

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. RUMELHART, D. E., & MCCLELLAND, J. L., & THE PDP RESEARCH GROUP (1986). Parallel distributed processing: Explorations in the microstructure ofcognition, Vol. 1. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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Authors
Goldstone, R. L.
Affiliations
Indiana University Bloomington (US)
Corresponding author
Goldstone, Robert L.
Venue
Memory & Cognition
Published
1996-09
Volume
24
Issue
5
Pages
608-628
ISSN
  • 0090-502X (ISSN-L)
  • 1532-5946
OpenAlex
W2117714737
Cited by
182
References
91
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 11
FWCI
3.62
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Memory & Cognition (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation (9409232)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Categorization, perception, and language
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
Keywords
category learning, prototype, caricature, discriminative features, category labels, connectionist models
MeSH terms
Adult, Attention, Concept Formation, Discrimination Learning, Female, Humans, Male, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Problem Solving, Mental Recall, Neural Networks, Computer

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