Saturday, January 25, 2020

Prototype Theory

Prototype Theory PROTOTYPE THEORY and DEFINITIONS: THE ROLE OF BASIC FACTORS, LEARNT KNOWLEDGE and CULTURE a small-scale empirical study 1. Introduction The purpose of the present empirical research paper is to investigate how Prototype Theory works in defining categories in real life. The theory was introduced by Rosch (1975) in order to explain how semantic categories are represented in our mind. Several experiments prove the functioning of Prototype Theory, but in everyday life we often categorise instances based on our culturally bound definitions rather than based on similarity to a typical instance. Thus, this paper investigates the role of the two mechanisms through a small-scale study, aiming at finding answers to the following research questions: Are prototypes and definitions formed similarly or differently? What is the role of learnt knowledge in creating the prototypes and definitions? Do cultural factors play a role in creating prototypes and definitions? 2. Literature review 2.1. Basic concepts In this section a review of the most important concepts related to Prototype Theory will be provided. To begin with, prototype theory suggests that many mental concepts we have are really prototypes. [] (It) has been useful in investigations into how concepts are formed, [] and to what extent certain concepts can be considered universal or specific to certain cultures / languages (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 2003, p. 432). A prototype is a person or object which is considered (by many people) to be typical of its class or group (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 2003, p.432). Rosch (1975) defines it as the clearest case of a category, and Aitchinson (1984) also stresses the typicality of the prototype regarding its category. The prototype consists of a set of prototypical features, which are the attributes that are shared by most members, but by only a few non-members (Rosch, 1975), therefore are able to differentiate between categories. A category is a set of attributes that we consider as characteristics of groups of people or objects, or a number of objects that are considered equivalent (Rosch, 1978). The category plays an important role in word recognition because it can serve as the basis of identification of an object, as people often define a concept by reference to typical instances (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 2003, p. 432). Other related concepts to prototypes are stereotype and schema. Stereotypes are beliefs about groups, i.e. the number of attributes that we consider as characteristics of certain social groups (The Cambridge Dictionary of Psychology, p. 520). There are, for instance, stereotypes based on race, ethnicity, gender or certain professions. A schema is a concept used in pragmatics to refer to a mental representation of a typical instance. Semantic processing allows people to interpret new experiences quickly and economically. (Cook, 1997, p. 86). All in all, prototypes play an important role in the cognitive processes of categorisation and word identification, which will be discussed in the following section. 2.2. Prototypes in categorisation The mental representation of a prototype is formed on the basis of several factors. First, a prototype is often described on the basis of its appearance: the size, the colour or the shape of an object can influence whether they are considered as typical instances of a category. Second, in some cases it is important what the object is capable of doing. For example, one of the most important characteristics of a bird is that it can fly, and a flightless bird is often considered as less typical. Moreover, the usage of an object often influences our judgement about the typicality of the object. Finally, the frequency of the word also defines whether we consider it typical or not, as a bird that always sings outside our windows can be judged most typical than an exotic bird that we rarely encounter. All in all, these characteristics influence our judgements of the typicality of objects with regards to certain categories (Rosch, 1978). According to another aspect, two types of attributes can define a category. Aitchinson (1987) distinguishes between identification criteria and stored knowledge, i.e. the attributes that are essential to the identification of a concept, and the attributes that we attach to the objects through our learnt knowledge of the world. In this respect the impact of ones culture is of high importance, as there is evidence that prototypes vary from language to language, and from culture to culture (Schwanenflugel and Rey, cited by Field, 2003, p.103). For instance, on the basis of its appearance, a bat could be categorised as a bird, but influenced by our knowledge we acquired in our biology lessons, we will most probably put the bat in the category of mammal. The role of the above mentioned basic factors, learnt knowledge and cultural stereotypes and schemata was investigated in an empirical study, which will be outlined in the next section. 3.  Research methods The aim of the empirical study is to answer the research questions presented in the Introduction. Research is based on data collected with the help of a questionnaire, and analysed quantitatively. 3.1. The research instrument The research instrument consisted of two basic parts. In the first part of the questionnaire there are five lists of words that participants had to evaluate on the basis of their typicality with regards to certain categories. The five lists of words were chosen on the basis of Rosch (1975, cited by Field, 2003, p. 102.), and consisted of nine words that had to be evaluated on a 7-item scale, on which 1 means the least typical, and 7 is the most typical instance. In the second part of the questionnaire participants had to define the same categories with their own words. The aim of the five open-ended items was to identify the basic attributes participants used to formulate a definition of the categories. These answers were then compared with the results of the judgements of prototypicality in the previous task, with the purpose of giving an account for the similarities and differences in the two kinds of mental operations. 3.2. Participants The research was carried out with the participation of 25 respondents. They were approached through personal contacts on the Internet. The average age of the participants is 22.4 years, and the gender proportion is almost equal (with 13 male and 12 female respondents). 4.  Results and discussion The aim of this section is to present and analyse the data of the empirical study, with the purpose of finding answers to the research questions. 4.1. The judgements of typicality The results of the judgements of the typicality of the instances of the categories are in line with Roschs (1975) findings that prove that the typicality of certain instances is evaluated very similarly by different people. Table 1 shows the order of the words within the categories: Table 1. The order of instances within the categories based on the respondents evaluation on a 1-7 scale. Furniture Bird Vehicle Fruit Woman table 6.85 blackbird 6.92 car 7 apple 7 mother 7 dresser 6.77 hawk 6.92 bus 7 orange 7 nurse 6.76 chair 6.76 sparrow 6.87 subway 6.69 pear 6.93 teacher 6.67 stool 5.61 raven 6.77 taxi 6.08 melon 6.54 actress 6.54 lamp 4.08 parrot 6.62 cart 5.77 mango 6.54 ballerina 6.23 piano 3.62 canary 6.54 yacht 4.08 fig 6.23 doctor 5.92 vase 2.39 ostrich 5.30 elevator 2 nut 3.23 police-woman 4.77 picture 2.30 penguin 4.85 ski 1.85 pumpkin 2.84 miner 3.30 telephone 1.92 bat 1.38 wheel-barrow 1.69 olive 2.30 football player 2.46 The evaluation of the prototypicality of the items seems to be based on several factors. The first factor is the appearance of the items, which influenced the judgements of prototypicilaty in the case of, for instance, the categories of bird or fruit, where the most typical instances have a lot in common with regards to physical appearance. Another aspect is the frequency of the items, that is, how often respondents encounter the given instance of the category in real life. The category of fruit is a good example for the importance of this factor, in which apple and orange were the ones being judged as most typical instances, and the less frequently consumed exotic fruits like mango or fig scored lower. Another example is the category of bird, in which the different evaluations of blackbird and canary cannot be accounted for in terms of physical appearance (they are quite similar in size and form). The frequency of the two species, on the other hand, is different, as the blackbird is a more common type of bird than the canary. A final factor in the judgement of the typicality of the objects is cultural schemata and stereotypes. The best example of the importance of cultural factors can be seen in the category of woman, where the traditionally feminine roles (e.g. mother, nurse or teacher) scored higher than the traditionally masculine professions (e.g. policewoman, miner or football player). Our culturally bound schemas are in work in the case of vehicles as well, where car and bus embody the best instance, while cart scored considerably lower. The fact that protypicality is a universal phenomenon of our minds is suggested not only by the consistency of the answers, but also by the fact that the findings are very similar to the results of the original experiment by Rosch, as summarised by Aitchison (1987, p. 53): On the bird list, sparrow, canary, blackbird, dove and lark all came out high. Parrot, pheasant, albatross, toucan, and owl were somewhat lower. Flamingo, duck and peacock were lower still. Ostrich, emu and penguin came out more than half-way down the seven-point rating, while last of all came bat, which probably shouldnt be regarded as a bird at all. Although the present research did not investigate the prototypicality of all items on the original list, the order of the items of my own study are in line with the findings of Rosch. 4.2. The definition of the categories According to the results, the definitions of categories are based on the same factors as the prototypes. Categories differ concerning whether they are formed on the basis of appearance, usage or frequency, and whether identification criteria or stored knowledge are dominant in forming the category. Table 2. The scores of the elements according to the number of their appearance in the definitions of the categories. Appearance Usage / function Frequency Experience Learnt knowledge Furniture 8 24 0 21 9 Bird 19 20 0 20 21 Vehicle 6 16 1 15 18 Fruit 17 18 0 19 19 Woman 5 7 0 10 21 The definitions of the categories were coded into numerical data: the definitions were broken down into components of meaning (based on the factors that determine prototypes, see section 2.2), and then the different components were grouped according to whether they referred to appearance or property, usage or function, or the frequency of encountering the given category. It was also decided whether the participant used world experience or learnt knowledge to formulate a definition. The results reveal that the dominance of the certain aspects of meaning in creating a definition varies from category to category. The definition of furniture is based on usage and function (e.g. an object with functions of decorating and personal use) and world experience. In the case of the category of bird, appearance (e.g. has wings) and function (i.e. what it does, for instance usually capable of flying), and experience (e.g. it can sing) and learnt knowledge (e.g. a type of vertebrates that reproduces with eggs play an equal role. Vehicle is defined dominantly according to its usage (e.g. used for the transportation of people), but experience and knowledge are both important bases of the definition. The definitions of fruit use all four aspects equally. Finally, the category of woman is defined negatively in a lot of cases (e.g. the opposite of man), and almost exclusively on the basis of learnt knowledge (e.g. has XX chromosomes and capable of giving birth). It is important to note that the frequency of encountering the category, which is an important factor in judging the typicality of an instance, does not play a role in defining a concept. 4.3. Prototype theory in the light of the results The results imply that the theoretical Prototype Theory and the everyday definitions of categories work similarly in practice. (1) Are prototypes and definitions formed similarly or differently? According to the results, the same factors (as outlined by Rosch (1978, see section 2.2.) play a role in formulating prototypes with regards to a category and in formulating a definition of the category. The mental operations that underlie the forming of stereotypes play a role in forming the definitions, although the definitions do not cover every prototypical instance. (2) What is the role of learnt knowledge in creating the prototypes and definitions? Based on the results of the study, stored knowledge determines prototypicality in the case of some categories. Attributes that we attach to the objects through our learnt knowledge of the world seem to override our world experience especially in the case of the definitions, which are most often formulated on the basis of learnt knowledge. (3) Do cultural factors play a role in creating prototypes and definitions? Cultural factors play a role in the judgement on prototypicality and creating definitions. Cultural stereotypes are at work in the case of the category of woman. Judging the prototypicality of the given social roles, cultural stereotypes and conventions determined the answers. The definition of the category of woman was defined on the basis of both biological sex and the social convention of gender. 5. Conclusion The present small-scale empirical study investigated the similarities and differences of the functioning of Prototype Theory and definitions. The results imply that the theoretical approach of Prototype Theory and the everyday definitions of categories work similarly in the practice, as the same basic factors, learnt knowledge and cultural aspects underlie the mental representations of prototypes and categories. 6. References Aitchison, J. (1987). Words in the mind. An introduction to the mental lexicon. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell. Cook, G. (1997). Key concepts in ELT: Schemas. ELT Journal, 51(1), 86. Field, J. (2003). Psycholinguistics: A resource book for students. New York: Routledge. Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics (3rd ed.). (2003). Harlow: Pearson ESL. Matsumoto, D. (Ed.) (2009). The Cambridge dictionary of psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rosch, E. (1975). Cognitive representations of semantic categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 104, 192-233. Rosch, E. (1978). Principles of categorisation. In Rosch, E., Loyd, B. B. (Eds.). Cognition and categorisation (pp. 27-48). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Friday, January 17, 2020

African Americans and Politics Essay

For decades African Americans have faced struggles throughout history. Most notably, African Americans were involved in slavery, suffrage, and the civil rights movement. These struggles were very visible and everyone was aware of what was going on. However, now African Americans are involved in a struggle that it not visible and recognizable. This is a struggle that is used to capitalize on wealth and prevent African American families and individuals from living normal lives. They are involved in environmental racism. Environmental racism â€Å"refers to intentional or unintentional racial discrimination in the enforcement of environmental rules and regulations, the intentional or unintentional targeting of minority communities for the siting of polluting industries, or the exclusion of minority groups from public and private boards, commissions, and regulatory bodies. †[1] This form of racism has been plaguing African American communities for years and most people have not taken notice. There are many form of environmental racism; however, this paper will specifically address redlining, blockbusting, racial profiling, and housing segregation and how each has impacted the African American community. Redlining is the act of refusing or increasing the cost of services such as loans, insurance, banking, and access to healthcare to citizens based upon race. The practice involves taking a map and drawing a red line through neighborhoods where banks would not invest money. Redlining was used to segregate African Americans in the housing, workforce, and school market. Parents had to find work in other areas of the city because there were not any resources available in the community. Because of redlining, schools became over crowded with 50 students crammed into one classroom. With the schools overcrowded, teachers were not able to provide special attention to the needy students and other students became uncontrollable. Cathy Cohen would argue that African Americans were being marginalized in the school system. To be considered marginalized means, to have continuously been denied access to dominant resources, barred from full participation in dominant institutions, and defined as â€Å"others, â€Å" living outside the norm and values agreed upon by society (Cohen 1999). African American students were all forced to go to one school in the community to keep them out of the White schools. Along with marginalization, Blacks were, and still are, a part of a power struggle. Blacks were seen, and will always be seen, as an inferior race. Also, Blacks have been disempowered knowingly and unknowingly. African-Americans have been taken advantage of and used to make other races feel superior. Blockbusting was a practice used by real estate agents and developers in the United States to encourage white property owners to sell their homes by giving the impression that minority groups (such as African Americans) were moving into their previously racially segregated neighborhood. [2] When African Americans began to move into the inner city, fear arose that they were an economic threat. Blockbusting was also the cause of many White Americans moving into the suburbs. The practice of blockbusting involved an African American purchasing a home for very cheap in a predominately White neighborhood. The real estate broker would contact the White residents and offer to buy their houses for quick cash and resell the house to an African American family for much higher. Real estate agents claimed that African Americans moving into a predominately White neighborhood would cause property values to go down and urged White homeowners to sell as soon as possible. Real estate agents indicated that the property values would go down because African Americans would not keep up their property, avoid lawn care, and if would affect the entire neighborhood. This practice has caused major shifts in urban neighborhoods, especially Chicago, in recent decades. The Blockbusting methods were profitable and became common across the nation. For example, by 1962, when blockbusting had been in practice for fifteen years, Chicago had over 100 operators and the city had been changing an average of two to three blocks a week for several years. Blockbusting is the reason why cities such as Chicago are now predominately African American and the surrounding suburbs are predominately White. Blockbusting caused African Americans to be marginalized as well. They were denied fair participation in the housing market. Real estate agents inflated housing prices for African Americans to gain commission. White homeowners already had prejudices about African Americans and the real estate agents only made the situation worse. The stereotypes that Black families do not take care of their property was the main reason White homeowners sold their homes. Racial profiling is â€Å"the inclusion of racial or ethnic characteristics in determining whether a person is considered likely to commit a particular type of crime or an illegal act or to behave in a â€Å"predictable† manner. †[3] The practice of racial profiling is a huge problem in the United States. African Americans are usually the targeted victims in the act of racial profiling. It is believed that an African American driver will be more likely stopped than a White driver. Some police officers share the belief that Black drivers will most likely possess an illegal substance of committing an illegal act. However, policemen argue that they do not base their arrests on race but are greatening their probability of a successful search. Some policemen also argue that the probability of catching a Black offender is greater than catching a White offender. Whether the statement is true or not, it places a bias on African Americans and White Americans. The belief that African Americans men are more likely to commit crimes is unfair and not true. One cannot base the behavior of all African American men on the ones that have done wrong and been imprisoned. Another belief of racial profiling is it is the cause of the racial disparities in the American prison system. There are many more African American men in the jail system than there are White men. The previous statement is mostly likely to be true. Because some policemen hold biases and have prejudices against African Americans, it will cause more African Americans to be placed in the jail system. Another instance of racial profiling involved African Americans owning nice material possessions such as a car or a house and African Americans being in a predominately White neighborhood. For example, in an episode of Family Matters, Eddie was in his car travelling through a predominately White neighborhood and was pulled over by the police for â€Å"failure to signal. † However, the routine traffic stop turned into nothing more than a beating for young Eddie. The significance of the episode shows that racial profiling does exist in the United States and it takes place every day. The practice has impacted African Americans because hundreds of innocent people have been harassed and humiliated by police officers simply because of their race. The most recent national example of environmental racism occurred when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005. When New Orleans was flooded with tons of water, there were no relief efforts for days and almost a week. Many believed this was due to the fact that majority of the New Orleans population was African American. The population was basically ignored for days until the help decided to come. Citizens of New Orleans were faced with intentional racism and were denied help for several days. This has impacted African Americans because many people died because of the heat, starvation, and disease from the water. African-Americans have been marginalized for centuries. To be considered marginalized means, to have continuously been denied access to dominant resources, barred from full participation in dominant institutions, and defined as â€Å"others, â€Å" living outside the norm and values agreed upon by society (Cohen 1999). Most recently, African-Americans were marginalized in regards to the outbreak of HIV/AIDS. While HIV/AIDS was once considered to be the disease of white gay men, Blacks are now the center of the epidemic. With the turn of the new millennium, the outbreak of AIDS in the Black community has soared. Black men who consider themselves to be â€Å"down low† are the center of the rising epidemic. The men have intercourse with other men while continuing to have intercourse with their female partners thus spreading the AIDS virus. Even though the soaring rate is shocking, there has been limited response from the African-American community. One can argue that Blacks have been marginalized from the resources to treat the epidemic. However, the Black community seems to be ignoring the spreading AIDS virus and focusing more on electing a Black president and high blood pressure. While both electing a Black president and lowering high blood pressure are important issues, similar emphasis should be put on the rising AIDS epidemic. In a sense, African-Americans have marginalized themselves from dealing with AIDS. Continuing to turn a cold shoulder to the issue will not fix the problem. Although Blacks are being marginalized when it comes to AIDS, they are also marginalized when it comes to property and social relationships. For example, when it comes to receiving bank loans, African-Americans is marginalized heavily. Some bank loan officers practice redlining which causes Black residents, whether qualified or not, to be denied loans for property. By using the redlining technique, bank loan officers are marginalizing Blacks from being able to own their own property. Relating back to the AIDS epidemic, Black men were marginalized for having the virus. For instance, if a Black man was open about his homosexuality would be marginalized heavily. Homophobia could be a valid reason for the marginalization of Black men. With open homosexuality, an African-American could be left out from participating in activities and denied being recognized as a normal individual. Homophobia could damage an individual’s social life and leave him feeling disempowered. [4] Along with marginalization, Blacks were, and still are, a part of a power struggle. Blacks were seen, and will always be seen, as lower than Whites. Also, Blacks have been disempowered knowingly and unknowingly, which is the center of environmental racism. African-Americans have been taken advantage of and used to gain wealth and keep at the bottom of the ladder. In short, there are many types of power struggles. One does not have to see power to know that it is taking place. [5] For instance, being called an inferior race is a power struggle within itself. African-Americans that believe that they are actually inferior will begin to act that way. They will begin to doubt themselves and their abilities in life. Once they have it in their mindset that they are inferior, it will cause them to act that way. Housing Segregation is â€Å"the practice of denying African American or other minority groups equal access to housing through the process of misinformation, denial of realty and financing services, and racial steering. †[6] The act of housing discrimination involves real estate agents and landlords not providing African American families with an accurate account of available housing. Housing segregation happens when landlords and real estate agents lure White Americans to available housing only in white communities, and African Americans to Black or diverse and mixed communities. The realtor and landlord usually work together in the process and will agree not to tell the African Americans about the available units in the European American communities. This process goes back to the assumption that African Americans residents will bring down the property value of homes in the neighborhood because they will not take care of their own property. Housing segregation is intentional racism that excludes African Americans from participating fairly in the housing market. Black families should be able to live wherever they please without regardless of the demographics of the neighborhood. With all that African Americans have been through, environmental racism should not be ignored or taken lightly. People should take heed to the practice and fight for what is right. All of the above forms of environmental racism have plagued the African American community. It has caused a major shift in the urban cities such as Chicago. Real estate agents have inflated the costs of housing for Black families moving into predominantly White areas. African American families can fight the issues by becoming more aware of their surroundings and becoming familiar with the practices. They can hire good lawyers to defend them and fight for justice. With regards to the AIDS epidemic, African Americans have been marginalized when it comes to resources and thus leads to environmental racism. African American of the new generation, as a whole, should stand together and fight the justice that was promised to them in the United States Constitution. ———————– [1] Dictionary. com [2] Dictionary. com [3] Dictionary. com [4] Cathy J. Cohen, The Boundaries of Blackness (The University of Chicago Press) 47-48. [5] John Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness (The University of Illinois Press) 1-32. [6] Dictionary. com.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Integrating Multiculturalism Into A School Curriculum

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