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A comparative study on the formation of prototype categories

Research Project

Project/Area Number 16530465
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section一般
Research Field Experimental psychology
Research InstitutionChiba University

Principal Investigator

JITSUMORI Masako  Chiba University, Faculty of Letters, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (80127662)

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) SUTO Noboru  Chiba University, Faculty of Letters, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (40154611)
Project Period (FY) 2004 – 2006
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2006)
Budget Amount *help
¥3,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,600,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥2,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000)
KeywordsExperimental Psychology / Comparative Cognition / Comparative Psychology / Cognition / Behavior / Evolution / 認知心理学 / 比較心理学 / カテゴリー / 比較認知 / プロトタイプ / ハト
Research Abstract

We created artificial categories by mimicking properties of natural category, using colored rectangles as the features comprising the categories. One is family resemblance relationship ; the highly variable exemplars were structured by a similarity network with the features correlating to one another in each category. Another is polymorphous rule ; no single feature was essential for distinguishing the categories. Humans showed difficulty in learning the categories and then responded to novel stimuli in an all-or-none fashion based on the rules they acquired. Pigeons learned the categories with ease and then showed a prototype effect in accord with the degrees of family resemblance. Because the stimuli defined as the prototypes of the categories contained the features that most frequently occurred in the given category, the best discrimination at the prototypes was readily explained by feature learning and exemplar learning.
In the next experiment, we trained pigeons to discriminate morphed images of human faces. The training exemplars in each category were created by blending a single unique face M with each of the original faces (A, B, C, and D) and their 50% morphs. To examine the effects of exemplar learning, we tested the pigeons with additional intermediate morphs that ranged between M and each of the original faces on a face-morph dimension. The pigeons' generalization gradient increased as a function of morph proportion of M of the positive category and decreased as a function of morph proportion of M of the negative category, a phenomena similar to the caricature effect of category features. Both the exemplar learning and feature learning models failed to predict the finding. The classification task used in this study might have enabled the pigeons to abstract the facial features shared by the category members and to respond to novel faces based on the degrees of common component.

Report

(4 results)
  • 2006 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report Summary
  • 2005 Annual Research Report
  • 2004 Annual Research Report
  • Research Products

    (15 results)

All 2007 2006 2004

All Journal Article (12 results) Book (3 results)

  • [Journal Article] Discrimination of artificial categories structured by family resemblances : A comparative study in people (Homo Sapiens) and pigeons (Columba livia).2007

    • Author(s)
      Hiroshi Makino, Masako Jitusmori
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Comparative Psychology 121・1

      Pages: 22-33

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Discrimination of artificial categories structured by family resemblances : A comparative study in people (Homo sapiens) and pigeons (Columba livia).2007

    • Author(s)
      Makino Hiroshi, Jitsumori Masako
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Comparative Psychology, Vol.121,No.1

      Pages: 22-33

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Categorization of Artificial Stimuli Structured by Family Resemblances : A Comparative Study in People and Pigeons2007

    • Author(s)
      Hiroshi Makino, Masako Jitsumori
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Comparative Psychology 121

      Pages: 22-33

    • Related Report
      2006 Annual Research Report
  • [Journal Article] 事物の認知とカテゴリー化 : 比較心理学的アプローチ2006

    • Author(s)
      実森正子
    • Journal Title

      Vision 18・3

      Pages: 125-133

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Family resemblances facilitate pigeons to form and to expand functional equivalence classes.2006

    • Author(s)
      Masako Jitsumori, Naoki Shimada, Sana Inoue
    • Journal Title

      Learning & Behavior 34・2

      Pages: 162-175

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Object recognition and object categorization ; An approach of comparative psychology.2006

    • Author(s)
      Jitsumori Masako
    • Journal Title

      VISIO N Vol.18,No.3

      Pages: 125-133

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Family resemblances facilitate formation and expansion of functional equivalence classes in pigeon.2006

    • Author(s)
      Jitsumori Masako, Shimada Naoki, Inoue Sana
    • Journal Title

      Leaning & Behavior, 34

      Pages: 162-175

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Category Structure and Typicality Effects.2006

    • Author(s)
      Jitsumori Masako
    • Journal Title

      Comparative Cognition; Experimental Explorations of Animal Intelligence, (Oxford University Press,) Chapter 18

      Pages: 342-362

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Categorization and concept formation in pigeons : A perspective on comparative cognition.2006

    • Author(s)
      Jitsumori Masako
    • Journal Title

      Progress in Psychological Science Around the World, (Psychology Press,) Chapter 5

      Pages: 95-111

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Family resemblances facilitate pigeons to from and to expand functional equivalence classes.2006

    • Author(s)
      Masako Jitsumori, Naoki Shimada, Sana Inoue
    • Journal Title

      Learning & Behavior 34(2)

      Pages: 162-175

    • Related Report
      2006 Annual Research Report
  • [Journal Article] Categorization and concept formation in pigeons : A perspective on comparative cognition.2006

    • Author(s)
      Masako Jitsumori
    • Journal Title

      Proceedings of International Congress of Psychology 1

      Pages: 95-111

    • Related Report
      2005 Annual Research Report
  • [Journal Article] Categorization and formation of equivalence classes in animals : Studies in Japan on the background of contemporary developments.2004

    • Author(s)
      Masako Jitsumori
    • Journal Title

      Japanese Psychological Research 46,4

      Pages: 182-194

    • Related Report
      2004 Annual Research Report
  • [Book] Category structure and typicality effect. In Wasserman, E.A., & Zentall. T. R. (Eds.), Comparative Cognition : Experimental Explorations of Animal Intelligence.2006

    • Author(s)
      Masako Jitsumori
    • Publisher
      Oxford University Press
    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Book] Categorization and concept formation in pigeons : A perspective on comparative cognition. In Jing et al. (Eds.), Progress in Psychological Science around the World.2006

    • Author(s)
      Masako Jitsumori
    • Publisher
      Psychology Press
    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Book] Comparative Cognition : Experimental Explorations of Animal Intelligence Chapter 18. Category structure and typicality effects2006

    • Author(s)
      Masako Jitsumori
    • Total Pages
      19
    • Publisher
      Oxford University Press
    • Related Report
      2005 Annual Research Report

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Published: 2004-04-01   Modified: 2016-04-21  

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