PSYCH 1X03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5-7: Numbers Game, Exemplar Theory
10 Nov 2016
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Exemplar theory suggests that our entire lifetime of experiences are stored and used to categorize our current experiences. We categorize objects by comparing them to every previously stored experience (exemplar) in a given category. Ex: instead of remembering just one prototype of dog, to compare with, exemplar theory suggests that you remember every dog you"ve ever met. Prototype can explain simple categorization better than the exemplar theory. Exemplars : individual examples that we compare to for categorizing new stimuli. Responding quicker to familiar birds via the exemplar theory: Explains how robins can be classified as birds more quickly than penguins. Simply a numbers game; not that the robin looks very similar to an average prototype, but rather you have many more robin exemplars in memory. Evidence for diagnoses influenced by more recent experiences. Diagnosticians note symptoms and observations to correctly categorize disease for appropriate treatment. Dermatologists identifying skin disease doctors diagnoses were affected by a single familiar example.
