PSYCH 1X03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Prototype Theory, Garding, Stereotype
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Four functions of categorization: allows you to treat objects that appear differently as belonging together, e. g. The illusion of the expert: experts assume a task is simple because it was easy fro them to complete it. Rules: categorization involves developing rules for inclusion and exclusion criteria re- garding the category. Psychologists think that humans have an internal representation of categories that is independent of the rules we try to define. Suggests that we store one internal average (prototype) of a category that is com- pared to a new experience to determine category membership. Prototypes are thought to be the average, or best member of a category. Prototypes are formed through experience and can be very personal because all the objects you"ve previously encountered are averaged together: evidence for: o. In an experiment, subjects were asked to confirmed whether a series of statements were true or not. To statements like a robin is a bird , subjects responded very quickly.