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.
Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Science, State University of New York at Buffalo, 14260, USA. psysmith@acsu.buffalo.edu
J David
JD
Smith
John Paul
JP
Minda
D001288:Attention; D003210:Concept Formation; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D006801:Humans; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010469:Perceptual Distortion; D011601:Psychophysics