Prototype Theory

The "prototype theory" was proposed by Rosch (1978), who suggested that when people categorize objects they match them against "the prototype", i.e. an "ideal exemplar", which contains the most representative features inside the category. Objects that do not share all the characteristics of the prototype are still members of the category but not prototypical ones. She argued that prototypes represent a "basic level of categorization", e.g. "chair", as opposed to a "superordinate", e.g. "…

…ces. Thus, prototypes "provide a different kind of data which are evidence of competence which is not directly projected into performance" (p. 74) Eleanor Rosch in 1978 gave rise to the theory which has been very influential ever since. As it has been shown, a considerable number of authors employ the prototype theory in their own researches. These far-reaching applications of this concept support the view that it proved to be useful in answering several agonizing questions.