Browsing by Subject "Concepts"
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Item An investigation of the two-dimensional conceptualization of brand loyalty(Texas Tech University, 1983-12) Muncy, James AlonzoNot availableItem Background Knowledge, Category Labels, and Similarity Judgment(2011-10-21) Yu, Na-YungLabels are one source of our judgments. By assigning labels to objects, we not only create references but we also group prior and current experiences together. The goal of this research is to investigate how labels influence our judgments. Previous research on inductive generalization shows that labels can be more important than physical characteristics (the labeling effect), but the mechanism for this effect remains unclear. There are two differing views regarding the role of labels. One view proposes that labels are not essentially different from physical features: shared labels increase overall similarity between two items in the same way as shared physical features. The other view suggests that people have a na?ve theory that shared labels are more special than shared physical features. The goal of this dissertation is to provide evidence that complements these conflicting views. I suggest that the role of labels varies depending on the background knowledge: types of categories (living things vs. man-made objects), amount of knowledge (number of exemplars people could list for the category), and types of labels (categorical vs. indexical). The results from four experiments showed that, for living things, the labeling effect is strong and depends less on the amount of knowledge; for man-made objects, the labeling effect is weak and depends on the amount of knowledge.Item Development and analysis of a scale to measure human sexuality education concepts(Texas Tech University, 1981-05) Barrington, Brenda JaneNot availableItem Identification and Analysis of Housing and Home Furnishings Concepts Important to Teachers and Students(Texas Tech University, 1981-05) McDougal, Jenifer JanNot Available.Item Incidental concept formation as related to verbal and visual measures of creativity.(Texas Tech University, 1975-05) McGlynn, Ann PalenNot availableItem Role-governed categorization(2009-12) Goldwater, Micah Balser; Markman, Arthur B.; Echols, Catharine H.; Griffin, Zenzi; Loewenstein, Jeffrey; Schnyer, DavidTheories of categorization typically assume that categories are represented by some set of features that describe the properties of category members. However this view of category representation is incomplete. This dissertation lays out a framework for category representation, following Markman and Stilwell (2001), that creates a taxonomy of categories based on different components of relational structures. Relational categories are categories of entire relational systems while, role-governed categories, are represented as the roles in these systems. Lastly, thematic-relation categories group entities together that play complementary roles within a system. Four experiments are presented in support of this framework. They contrast thematic-relation categorization with role-governed categorization. Thematic-relation categorization entails categorizing objects together that play different roles within a domain, while role-governed categorization entails categorizing two entities that play the same role across domains. When the two are put in direct conflict, people prefer to form a thematic-relation category because within-domain connections are easier to find than across-domain connections. The purpose of the four experiments is to examine ways to boost the preference for role-governed categorization, thus revealing underlying processes. Here, role-governed categorization is facilitated in two ways. Experiment 1 re-frames the question of category formation as novel word extension. Natural role-governed categories have labels while thematic-relation categories do not. This pattern is reflected in the measured behavior as novel labels are extended across members of role-governed categories more readily than across members of thematic-relation categories. By claiming relational structures are critical to category representation, the framework described in this dissertation predicts that role-governed categorization and analogical reasoning share underlying mechanisms. Experiments 2-4 examine how making an analogy between the members of role-governed categories facilitates forming such categories. When making an analogy, people align the relational representations of a pair of domains, putting entities into correspondence by role, ignoring featural dissimilarities. When analogical comparison is induced, the rate of role-governed categorization is shown to double as compared to a baseline with no such analogical processes. The thesis concludes by outlining several future lines of research generated by unifying the fields of analogy and concept learning.Item Student Conceptions of Parenthood: Traditional vs. Developmental(Texas Tech University, 1979-05) Casey, Cary JonNot Available.Item Student conceptions of parenthood: traditional vs. developmental(Texas Tech University, 1979-05) Casey, Cary JonNot availableItem The effects of mental imagery activities on early concept acquisition(Texas Tech University, 1978-08) Oxford, Patricia Ann HoyNot availableItem The professional image of the home economist(Texas Tech University, 1977-08) Myers, Susan MarieNot available