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ABSTRACTS

A GOOD ABSTRACT:

(1) is well organized.

Start with the essential point, and then talk about other important things that illustrate the central point.

(2) Always makes a distinction between EXAMPLES and CONCEPTS.

Use TITLES.

If the title is "Metaphors in cognitive psychology" probably information about metaphors in general is more central than specific information about a particular type of metaphor.

DO NOT CONFOUND THE CENTRAL ISSUE WITH THE EXAMPLES GIVEN TO CLARIFY THIS ISSUE

(3) in this particular abstract, it was important to specify: What a metaphor is, what is the advantage of metaphors, what are the problems associated to the use of metaphors in science

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CONCEPT OF REPRESENTATION (MARR)

"A representation is a formal system that describe certain entities or types of information, together with a specification of how the system does this."

(Marr, 1982, p. 20)

What is a "formal system"?

A FORMAL SYSTEM is a group of symbols with rules for putting them together

(for example, the Arabic or the binary numerical systems)

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At least three codes are necessary to represent a word: VISUAL, PHONOLOGICAL, and SEMANTIC codes.

(1) The visual code is related to the perceptual representation of the word (or any other object).

(2) The phonological code is related to the sound of the word

(3) the semantic code is related to the meaning of the word.

Does it have a letter with a thicker segment ?

Does it rhyme with "lint" ?

Is it more or less than a quarter?

LEXICAL ACCESS

TOP-DOWN AND BOTTOM-UP PROCESSES

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Please, read this sentence:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
IC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

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GROUP A - INSTRUCTIONS

This is an experiment on information processing. A student will read a list of words and I would like you to indicate whether there is an E or a G in the word. If the word has either an E or a G please write Y next to the number of the response sheet. If the word has not Es or Gs, pleas write N. Be as accurate as you can, but remember that you will have only 3 seconds per word to make your response.

GROUP B - INSTRUCTIONS

This is an experiment on information processing. A student will read a list of words and I would like you to indicate whether you think the word represent something pleasant or unpleasant. If you think the word is pleasant, please write P next to the number on the response sheet. If you think the word is unpleasant, please write U. Be as accurate as you can, but remember that you will have only 3 seconds per word to make your response.

GROUP C - INSTRUCTIONS

This is an experiment on information processing. A student will read a list of words and I would like you to think how each word relate to yourself (is this something that you have or that you use? Do you have memory or images associated to this word?). After you are finished, write an "X" next to the number on the response sheet. You will have only 3 seconds per word to make your response.

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