CogLab Homework #7- Prototypes: due Thursday April 13

1. Print out your individual reaction time means (prototype and variant). Describe the classic results of the experiment, and whether your results are consistent with the classic finding (if not, explain why you think this difference occurred).

2. In the experiment you participated in, the students had never seen those display patterns before. How is a prototype formed for each category in this situation?

3. Based on prototype theory, explain why people are faster to classify the prototypes into their category than to classify the variants when neither pattern had ever been seen before (i.e. it could not be due to the fact that they had seen one of the particular patterns before).

4. Suppose the prototype for disease "A" is: fever, sore throat, and stiff joints. The prototype for disease "B" is: chills, runny nose, and ear aches. A patient arrives at the hospital with the following symptoms: fever, stiff joints, and ear aches. First determine which disease the doctor would say the patient has based on using prototype theory, and then explain how the doctor using prototype theory would have classified the patient as having that disease. Must explain how prototypes factor into the decision making.