{"id":33894,"date":"2023-09-17T04:45:46","date_gmt":"2023-09-17T04:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/questions\/does-increasing-category-structure-complexity-increase-classification-learning-difficulty\/"},"modified":"2023-09-17T04:45:46","modified_gmt":"2023-09-17T04:45:46","slug":"does-increasing-category-structure-complexity-increase-classification-learning-difficulty","status":"publish","type":"questions","link":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/questions\/does-increasing-category-structure-complexity-increase-classification-learning-difficulty\/","title":{"rendered":"Does increasing category structure complexity increase classification learning difficulty?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In
\nyour lab classes, you participated in an experiment in which you were required
\nto categorise amoeba-like stimuli based on their internal features (i.e., the
\norganelles). Classification learning difficulty was varied between conditions.
\nThe features relevant to this categorisation decision were not revealed to you,
\nso you were required to learn how to correctly classify the stimuli from the
\nfeedback you were given.<\/span><\/p>\n

This
\nexperiment is a partial replication of one by Shepard et al. (1961), who
\nexplored how different types of category structure affected classification
\nlearning. In their first experiment, Shepard et al. (1961) demonstrated that
\nlearning difficulty increases with category structure complexity. Our
\nexperiment was designed to test the reproducibility of this result using more
\nconfusable stimuli.<\/span><\/p>\n

In
\nyour tutorials, we described Shepard et al.\u2019s (1961) first experiment and
\ncontrasted their design with that of our experiment. In your lab report, your
\ntask is to demonstrate an understanding of Shepard et al. (1961)\u2019s original
\nexperiment and findings, citing other relevant literature where appropriate to
\nexplain their results. In doing so, you should provide a rationale for the
\ncurrent study that justifies our predictions. You will also need to report the
\nresults from the lab report experiment and discuss your findings in the context
\nof Shepard et al.\u2019s (1961) results and the broader classification literature.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A
\ntemplate for writing the lab report, including the method section, is available.
\nNote that, while the method is not assessed, you are still expected to complete this
\nsection by replacing the missing values with the appropriate numbers<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

The Study<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The aim of our study was to perform a partial replication of<\/p>\n

Experiment 1 from Shepard et al. (1961) using the amoeba
\nstimuli<\/p>\n

from Blair et al. (2009)<\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The stimulus dimensions we used were more abstract and did
\nnot<\/p>\n

have learned verbal labels<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They were also less perceptually discriminable than those
\nused by<\/p>\n

Shepard et al. (1961)<\/p>\n

Research Question<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Does increasing category structure complexity increase

\nclassification learning difficulty?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hypotheses<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Think about how we are measuring classification learning
\ndifficulty

\nin this experiment

\nHypotheses are a prediction of what the outcome of the study will

\nbe in terms of the dependent variable

\nWrite your hypotheses in your own words!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Link to the experiment: http:\/<\/span> <\/span>\/go.unimelb.edu.au\/7ovi<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Key reading: <\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong> <\/span>Shepard, Hovland, and Jenkins (1961).pdf (<\/a><\/span><\/strong>Experiment 1 in this paper is most relevant to your lab report)<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In your lab classes, you participated in an experiment in which you were required to categorise amoeba-like stimuli based on their internal features (i.e., the organelles). Classification learning difficulty was varied between conditions. The features relevant to this categorisation decision were not revealed to you, so you were required to learn how to correctly classify […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"disciplines":[196],"paper_types":[],"tagged":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions\/33894"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/questions"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions\/33894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"disciplines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disciplines?post=33894"},{"taxonomy":"paper_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/paper_types?post=33894"},{"taxonomy":"tagged","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tagged?post=33894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}