ON THE GENESIS OF ABSTRACT IDEAS

Abstract

PREVIOUS WORK INDICATES THAT SS CAN LEARN TO CLASSIFY SETS OF PATTERNS WHICH ARE DISTORTIONS OF A PROTOTYPE THEY HAVE NOT SEEN. IT IS SHOWN THAT AFTER LEARNING A SET OF PATTERNS, THE PROTOTYPE (SCHEMA) OF THAT SET IS MORE EASILY CLASSIFIED THAN CONTROL PATTERNS ALSO WITHIN THE LEARNED CATEGORY. AS THE VARIABILITY AMONG THE MEMORIZED PATTERNS INCREASES, SO DOES THE ABILITY OF SS TO CLASSIFY HIGHLY DISTORTED NEW INSTANCES. THESE FINDINGS ARGUE THAT INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHEMA IS ABSTRACTED FROM THE STORED INSTANCES WITH VERY HIGH EFFICIENCY. IT IS UNCLEAR WHETHER THE ABSTRACTION OF INFORMATION INVOLVED IN CLASSIFYING THE SCHEMA OCCURS WHILE LEARNING THE ORIGINAL PATTERNS OR WHETHER THE ABSTRACTION PROCESS OCCURS AT THE TIME OF THE 1ST PRESENTATION OF THE SCHEMA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1968 American Psychological Association.