Context and Classification Learning
{'Code': '04040500', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'SBE', 'LongName': 'Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'BCS', 'LongName': 'Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Jasmine Young', 'PO_EMAI': 'jyoung@nsf.gov', 'PO_PHON': '7032924833'}
This project aims to understand the processes underlying                        classification learning and performance.  One focus is the                      question of what makes some categories natural, easy to learn and               use, and other categories unnatural, difficult to learn, and                    awkward to use.  Aside from relevance to the problem of how best                to teach certain concepts (e.g., scientific concepts), the                      question of naturalness is a tool for evaluating categorization                 theories.  That is, alternative theories make differing                         predictions about what kinds of concepts are easy to use and                    learn.  Several of the proposed experiments will test these                     predictions by presenting people with different types of category               structures to see how well the theories can predict difficulty of               learning.  A related question is how people organize examples                   when they are free to create their own categories.  Again the                   idea is to see what principles determine category construction                  and to compare these principles with the predictions of                         alternative theories.  Another major facet of the project will be               experiments examining learning strategies and the idea that there               may be distinct modes of learning.  There is some evidence that                 direct, explicit attempts to learn difficult category structures                may be less effective than indirect or nonanalytic learning.                    Several experiments will explore the possibility that nonexplicit               learning will lead to rule-like performance even though people                  may be unable to verbalize their knowledge.  Finally, the project               will examine how people integrate abstract information about                    categories and concrete experience with examples.  Overall, the                 project has the goal of developing better theories for how people               learn about, use, and update concepts and categories.
{'FirstName': 'Douglas', 'LastName': 'Medin', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'L', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Douglas L Medin', 'EmailAddress': 'medin@northwestern.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000392144', 'StartDate': '08/01/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign', 'CityName': 'URBANA', 'ZipCode': '618013620', 'PhoneNumber': '2173332187', 'StreetAddress': '506 S WRIGHT ST', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'Illinois', 'StateCode': 'IL', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '13', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'IL13', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'Y8CWNJRCNN91', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': None}
{'Name': None, 'CityName': None, 'StateCode': None, 'ZipCode': None, 'StreetAddress': None, 'CountryCode': None, 'CountryName': None, 'StateName': None, 'CountryFlag': None, 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': None, 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_PERF': '""'}
{'Code': '118000', 'Text': 'HUMAN COGNITION & PERCEPTION'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1988&All=true', 'xml': '8812193.xml'}