Exemplars can make sense of variable categories-those with less distinguished characteristics-such as "games", much more so than prototypes, which rely on typical characteristics to determine membership. On the other hand, prototypes are less flexible than exemplars: exemplars can account more easily for atypical category members, such as a penguin being part of the "bird" category, because an exemplar does not average out the characteristics of a category like a prototype does. While prototypes are economical-meaning they are more conducive to quick judgments-exemplars are less so. While a prototype is an abstract average of the members of a category, an exemplar is an actual member of a category, pulled from memory. Prototype theory suggests that a new stimulus is compared to a single prototype in a category, while exemplar theory suggests that a new stimulus is compared to multiple known exemplars in a category. However, the specifics of the two theories are different. They also both rely on the same general cognitive process: we experience a new stimulus, a concept in memory is triggered, we make a judgment of resemblance, and draw a categorization conclusion.
The two theories are similar in that they emphasize the importance of similarity in categorization: only by resembling a prototype or exemplar can a new stimulus be placed into a category. Recently the adoption of both prototypes and exemplars based representations and categorization has been implemented in a cognitively inspired artificial system called DUAL PECCS (Dual Prototypes and Exemplars based Conceptual Categorization System) that, due to this integration, has extended the categorization capabilities of classical categorization models. We use both the exemplar and prototype method in making category judgments, and they often work in tandem to produce the most accurate conclusion.
( April 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Įxemplar Theory is often contrasted with prototype theory, which proposes another method of categorization. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This section needs additional citations for verification. Various versions of the exemplar theory have led to a simplification of thought concerning concept learning, because they suggest that people use already-encountered memories to determine categorization, rather than creating an additional abstract summary of representations. If a new stimulus is similar enough to some of these stored bird examples, the person categorizes the stimulus in the "bird" category. For example, the model proposes that people create the "bird" category by maintaining in their memory a collection of all the birds they have experienced: sparrows, robins, ostriches, penguins, etc. The new stimulus is assigned to a category based on the greatest number of similarities it holds with exemplars in that category. The instance stored in memory is the "exemplar".
It argues that individuals make category judgments by comparing new stimuli with instances already stored in memory. Exemplar theory is a proposal concerning the way humans categorize objects and ideas in psychology.