title: An exploratory mindset reduces preference for prototypes and increases preference for novel exemplars.
abstract: Previous research has shown that prototypes of familiar categories are preferred over novel exemplars of familiar and unfamiliar categories. The present research demonstrates a reversal of this effect by simply inducing an exploratory mindset. Specifically, participants were asked to judge the attractiveness of dot patterns that represented prototypes of familiar categories, exemplars of familiar categories, or exemplars of novel categories. An exploratory mindset was manipulated by asking participants to imagine the stimuli as stars (versus as peas). Results show that participants in the exploration condition preferred exemplars of novel categories (thereby reversing the classical prototypicality effect), whereas participants in the control condition preferred prototypes. The role of mindsets and familiarity in attractiveness ratings is discussed.
authors.affiliation: New York University, New York, NY, USA. jochim.hansen@nyu.edu
authors.forename: Jochim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Topolinski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001245:Association Learning; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult