Categories and concepts are crucial cognitive tools for
simplifying and organizing the vast amounts of
information we encounter in daily life.
Stereotyping: Categorization can sometimes lead to
stereotyping, where people overgeneralize and apply
Introduction By categorizing, we place objects, people, and ideas into
category traits to individuals in a biased way. meaningful groups, which helps reduce cognitive load
Application of Categories in and enhances decision-making.
Expertise: Experts in a particular domain often have Everyday Life
more refined or specialized categories compared to
novices. This expertise allows them to make more
accurate and faster categorizations. Cognitive Economy: The brain organizes
information efficiently by reducing the
need to treat every object or idea as
unique.
Boundaries of Categories: Some
Example: Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? categories have fuzzy boundaries, Prediction: Categories allow individuals to
Such cases demonstrate how categories meaning it’s difficult to determine if an make predictions about new objects or
can overlap or be context-dependent. object belongs to a category. situations by associating them with
Why Categorization is Important
familiar ones.
Superordinate Level: Broad categories
Challenges in Categorization Communication: Shared categories and
(e.g., furniture). Category Hierarchies: Categories are often
concepts allow people to communicate
organized hierarchically, from broad,
Basic Level: More specific but still general more effectively since words correspond to
general categories (e.g., “animal”) to more
(e.g., chair). shared meanings.
specific subcategories (e.g., “bird,” “robin”).
Subordinate Level: Very specific categories
(e.g., armchair). Categories are rules or boundaries for
grouping items together.
Natural Categories: Formed naturally and
Feedback and Reinforcement: Learning categories often Defining Categories used without conscious effort (e.g., types of
involves trial and error, with feedback helping refine
animals).
categories over time.
The Role of Experience: Exposure to various examples
Learning New Categories
Categories and Two major types of categories: Artificial Categories: Defined by strict
rules or characteristics (e.g., geometric
within a category strengthens understanding and makes
future categorization easier. Concepts shapes).
Prototypes: Ideal or most typical examples of a
Children begin forming categories at an early
category.
age, but their ability to categorize becomes more
sophisticated as they grow.
Categories are organized around a central, ideal
prototype, and items are included in the category
Perceptual Categorization: Early in life, children Development of Categorization based on their similarity to this prototype.
categorize objects based on perceptual features
in Children
like shape and color.
Prototype Theory Graded Membership: Items that closely resemble the
prototype are more likely to be seen as category
Conceptual Categorization: As they mature,
members than those that differ.
children move to conceptual categorization, using
deeper, more abstract properties (e.g., categorizing
Evidence for Prototype Theory: People are faster to
based on function rather than appearance).
recognize and categorize objects that are closer to the
prototype (e.g., a robin is a quicker match for “bird”
than a penguin).
Studies show that people sometimes
categorize objects by recalling specific
examples they’ve encountered in the past
Unlike Prototype Theory, which uses a single
rather than comparing them to a single Evidence for Exemplar Theory ideal representation, Exemplar Theory argues
prototype.
that we store individual examples (exemplars) of
category members.
New objects are categorized by comparing
them to all stored examples from past
Exemplar Theory experiences.
Advantages: Can explain why unusual or
atypical members of a category can still be
recognized because individuals may have
stored exemplars of these.
