Distinguishing prototype-based and exemplar-based processes in dot-pattern category learning.
The authors contrast exemplar-based and prototype-based processes in dot-pattern categorization. In Experiments 1A and 1B, participants provided similarity ratings of dot-distortion pairs that were distortions of the same originating prototype. The results show that comparisons to training exemplars surrounding the prototype create flat typicality gradients within a category and small prototype-enhancement effects, whereas comparisons to a prototype center create steep typicality gradients within a category and large prototype-enhancement effects. Thus, prototype and exemplar theories make different predictions regarding common versions of the dot-distortion task. Experiment 2 tested these different predictions by having participants learn dot-pattern categories. The steep typicality gradients, the large prototype effects, and the superior fit of prototype models suggest that participants refer to-be-categorized items to a representation near the category's center (the prototype), and not to the training exemplars that surround the prototype.
Smith
J David
JD
Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Science, State University of New York at Buffalo, 14260, USA. psysmith@acsu.buffalo.edu
Minda
John Paul
JP
D001288:Attention; D003210:Concept Formation; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D006801:Humans; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010469:Perceptual Distortion; D011601:Psychophysics