An on-line investigation of prototype and exemplar strategies in classification

Although prototype- and exemplar-based models of categorization are very different in character, they have proved difficult to distinguish experimentally. The research described here presents a priming technique for assessing the type of information retrieved at the moment that a categorization decision is made. This technique avoids many of the problems inherent in the standard paradigms. Data from six experiments are presented that demonstrate the usefulness of the technique and also address basic questions about the categorization process. Results bolster previous suggestions that categorization strategies may be mixed within a single experimental task and highlight the need for more specific predictions about when each strategy will come into play.