PSYCH 1X03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Prototype Theory, Exemplar Theory, Stereotype
Document Summary
Without the cognitive ability to categorize, every sensory experience would be completely unique. You would be lost in an ocean of experiences, unable to draw connections with the past and being forced to make unique decisions on even the most routine actions. The illusion of the expert: the feeling that a task must be simple for everyone because it is simple for oneself. Categorization is a very complex field with a number of conflicting theories seeking to explain the ways with which humans are able to categorize. For simple categories we are more susceptible to the illusion of the expert, and a greater percentage of people report that they can come up with a simple classification rule. For more complex categories like fruit and furniture there is a decrease in the number of people who report being able to identify a simple categorization rule.
