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

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.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

- 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

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).

Definitional Approach to Categorization

Family resemblance

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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