Category and Concepts

Category: Set of items that are perceptually, biologically, or functionally similar.

• One item can be exchanged for another
• Individual items are exemplars

Concept: Mental representation of objects, ideas, or events.

• Medin (1989): An idea that includes all that is characteristically associated with it.
• Why some properties exist is important.

Categorization Strategies

We are flexible in our categorization strategies (Chin-Parker & Ross 2004)

Classical View of Categorization

Aristotle: Set of features both necessary and sufficient for category membership.

• Defining Features: The least amount of features required to classify something.
• Considers features of individual examplars.
• e.g. A grandmother is a mother whose child is a parent.
• Problem 1: Impossible to identify defining features
• Problem 2: Some might fit more than others, but classical view is binary.

Prototype Theory of Categorization

We categorize items using characteristic features to compare to one stored prototype.

• Prototype: Most typical member of a category. (Highest typicality rating)

  (Doesn't have to exist IRL, but an abstraction that has all char features)

• Characteristic Features: Features likely in category members but not required.