"Prototype theory is a theory of categorization in cognitive science, particularly in psychology and cognitive linguistics, in which there is a graded degree of belonging to a conceptual category, and some members are more central than others."
The idea that categories are based on a prototype of an ideal example, with closer members being more typical than distant ones.
Basic concepts of cognitive linguistics: Cognitive linguistics is an approach in linguistics that argues that language reflects and is shaped by our cognition.
Prototype theory: Prototype theory is a cognitive linguistics approach that explains how prototypes or ideal examples are created in our minds and how we use them to understand concepts.
Category formation: Category formation is a cognitive process in which we group objects or concepts based on their perceived similarities.
Semantic distance: Semantic distance refers to the perceived similarity or distance between concepts in our mental representation.
Fuzzy boundaries: Fuzzy boundaries refer to the fuzzy or blurred boundaries between categories in our mental representation.
Graded membership: Graded membership is a concept in prototype theory that explains how some members of a category are considered more typical or central than others based on their closeness to the prototype.
Family resemblance: Family resemblance is a concept in prototype theory that explains how members within a category share certain features but don't have identical attributes.
Prototype effects: Prototype effects refer to the influence that prototypes have on our judgment and perception of objects or concepts.
Context effects: Context effects refer to the influence that the context has on our perception and understanding of objects or concepts.
Typicality effects: Typicality effects refer to the influence that the typicality of an object or concept has on our perception and judgment.
Metaphor: Metaphor is a cognitive process that involves the transfer of meaning from one domain (source) to another (target) to understand abstract concepts.
Conceptual blending: Conceptual blending is a cognitive process that involves the creation of a new mental space by combining elements from two or more existing mental spaces.
Embodied cognition: Embodied cognition is a theory in cognitive science that argues that cognitive processes are grounded in sensorimotor experience and bodily sensations.
Linguistic relativity: Linguistic relativity is a theory in linguistics that argues that language influences and shapes our perception and understanding of the world.
Cross-linguistic studies: Cross-linguistic studies compare and contrast how different languages represent and categorize concepts, which helps to understand the universality and variability of cognitive processes.
Cognitive models: Cognitive models attempt to represent and explain how mental representations are formed, structured and processed during a cognitive task or activity.
Polysemy: Polysemy refers to the phenomenon in which a word has multiple related but distinct meanings that are connected through their shared underlying concept.
Homonymy: Homonymy refers to the phenomenon in which a word has multiple unrelated meanings that are connected only by their phonetic or orthographic form.
Prototype analysis methods: Prototype analysis methods are used to operationalize and quantify the prototypicality of concepts, based on experimental or corpus-based studies.
Prototype-based computational models: Prototype-based computational models simulate the cognitive processes of prototype formation, category formation and semantic distance calculation in artificial intelligence and natural language processing applications.
Basic-level categories: These are categories that are not too broad or too specific. They are at an intermediate level, allowing for easy recognition and learning of new concepts.
Family resemblance: This theory suggests that members of a category share certain characteristics, but not all. In other words, category members have a resemblance to each other but there are no clear boundaries.
Prototype effects: This theory suggests that prototypes are more easily recognized and recalled than non-prototypical members of a category.
Graded structure: This theory suggests that category membership is not binary, but rather has degrees of membership depending on how closely related an object or concept is to the prototype.
Conceptual combination: This theory examines how people combine concepts with different prototypes to create new concepts.
"It emerged in 1971 with the work of psychologist Eleanor Rosch."
"It has been described as a 'Copernican revolution' in the theory of categorization for its departure from the traditional Aristotelian categories."
"It has been criticized by those that still endorse the traditional theory of categories, like linguist Eugenio Coseriu and other proponents of the structural semantics paradigm."
"When asked to give an example of the concept furniture, a couch is more frequently cited than, say, a wardrobe."
"Prototype theory has also been applied in linguistics, as part of the mapping from phonological structure to semantics."
"In formulating prototype theory, Rosch drew in part from previous insights, in particular, the formulation of a category model based on family resemblance by Wittgenstein (1953), and by Roger Brown's How shall a thing be called? (1958)."
"It is a theory of categorization in cognitive science, particularly in psychology and cognitive linguistics."
"It departs from the traditional Aristotelian categories."
"There is a graded degree of belonging to a conceptual category, and some members are more central than others."
"It has been described as a 'Copernican revolution' in the theory of categorization."
"Linguist Eugenio Coseriu and other proponents of the structural semantics paradigm."
"Cognitive science, particularly in psychology and cognitive linguistics."
"It emerged in 1971 with the work of psychologist Eleanor Rosch."
"It suggests that any given concept in any given language has a real-world example that best represents this concept."
"For example, when asked to give an example of the concept furniture, a couch is more frequently cited than, say, a wardrobe."
"It has been criticized by those that still endorse the traditional theory of categories."
"Prototype theory has also been applied in linguistics, as part of the mapping from phonological structure to semantics."
"Previous insights, in particular, the formulation of a category model based on family resemblance by Wittgenstein (1953)."
"Roger Brown's How shall a thing be called? (1958)."