Concepts and categories are organized in hierarchical networks based on meaning.

Semantic network approach

The arrangement of taxonomic ranks into "higher" and "lower" levels according to level of specificity.

Taxonomic hierarchy

According to Rosch, categories can be organized by hierarchical levels based on the size and specificity of the category compared to others it encompasses or is encompassed by. They are said to be broken down into three main levels:
- The global (superordinate)
- The basic
- The specific (subordinate)

Rosch's approach to Hierarchical Organization of Categories 

Larger more general categories and concepts are at the top and flow into smaller more specific subcategories and concepts creating a hierarchy.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Encompasses all of the possible examples of a concept. For example the category of dogs includes poodles, pugs and bulldogs. 

Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience

Prototype

Hierarchical organization

People can have brain damage where their memory is impaired, but only when trying to identify certain types of categories. For example, some patients with brain damage from encephalitis were able to remember non-animal objects (i.e. furniture and tools) but were not able to identify animals.

Category-specific memory impairment 

One way to categorize things is to separate them into artifacts (non-living) and living things.

Artifacts and Living things

- Sensory-functional (S-F) hypothesis
- Semantic category approach
- Multiple factor approach
- Crowding
- Embodied approach

Hypotheses about knowledge of categories and concepts in the brain

A person is trying to mentally group the following items: a car, a bus, a bicycle, and a skateboard. Which of the following statements best explains why 'Vehicles' is a more cognitively useful category for these items than 'Objects with wheels'?

The cognitive process by which concepts are sorted into categories. This process structures our experiences and enables us to give them greater personal meaning.

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