Summary
The prototype model has had a long history in cognitive psychology, and prototype theory posed an early challenge to the classical view of concepts. Prototype models assume that categories are represented by a summary representation of a category (i.e., a prototype) that might represent information about the most common features, the average feature values, or even the ideal features of a category. Prototype models assume that classification decisions are made on the basis of how similar an object is to a category prototype. This chapter presents a formal description of the model, the motivation and theoretical history of the model, as well as several simulations that illustrate the model's properties. In general, the prototype model is well suited to explain the learning of many visual categories (e.g. dot patterns) and categories with a strong family-resemblance structure.
Prototype models of categorization: basic formulation, predictions, and limitations
Categories are fundamental to cognition, and the ability to learn and use categories is present in all humans and animals. An important theoretical account of categorization is the prototype view (Homa & Cultice, 1984; Homa et al., 1973; Minda & Smith, 2001, 2002; Posner & Keele, 1968; J. D. Smith & Minda, 1998, 2000, 2001; J. D. Smith, Redford, & Haas, 2008). The prototype view assumes that a category of things in the world (objects, animals, shapes, etc.) can be represented in the mind by a prototype.