Categories are mentally represented by idealized prototypical members

Evidence

Some accounts posit that categories, both social and nonsocial, are mentally represented by a single prototype, that is, a generalized mental representation of the ideal member of a category. Each individual is then compared to the prototype, and if the “family resemblance” is adequate, the individual is categorized as a member of that group (Rosch, 1978). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1380

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the prototype model of categorization from Rosch 1978, contrasting it with the exemplar model alluded to next.
• XREF: connects to: Leaders embody shared identity by styling themselves as category prototypes — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 83