Figure 3. Formal categorization models.

A. Exemplar models posit that a category is represented by its specific exemplars. In this example, taken from Bowman and Zeithamova, 2018, participants were trained to categorize four members of category A and four members of category B, all cartoon animals with 8 binary dimensions. The trained exemplars are thought to form the representations of the two categories. Joint consideration of all exemplars from both categories underlies generalization judgments. B. Prototype models posit that a category is represented by its central tendency (prototype) generalized from specific instances. In this example, category prototypes combine all features that are characteristic for each category. Categorization judgments are then based on comparison of a stimulus to the two category prototypes.