A concept is a member of a category if it meets the definition of that category. The approach works well for straight forward concepts (i.e. shapes) but less so for more abstract ones (i.e. animals, chairs).

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- Definitional approach
- Family resemblance 
- Prototype approach
- Exemplar approach

Approaches to Categorization

Goldstein, E. B. (2014). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience. Nelson Education.


Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience

Definitional Approach to Categorization

Proposed by Wittgenstein to accommodate for the fact that not every concept in a category fits with its definition. Takes into account what in common (size, shape, functionality) something has with other members of a family.

Family resemblance

Membership to a category is based on how close something is to a prototype (typical/average member) for that category. Prototypes have high family resemblance.

Prototype Approach to Categorization

Membership to a category is based on how close something is to exemplar members of that category. Exemplar members of a category are those that a person has experienced before. Differs from the prototype approach because it considers many examples of a family instead of an "average".

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