Category information is used to predict properties of new category members. When categorization is uncertain, people often rely on only one, most likely category to make predictions. Yet studies of perception and action often conclude that people combine multiple sources of information near-optimally. We present a perception-action analog of…

In one form of category-based induction, people make predictions about unknown properties of objects. There is a tension between predictions made based on the object's specific features (e.g., objects above a certain size tend not to fly) and those made by reference to category-level knowledge (e.g., birds fly). Seven experiments with artificial…

Two experiments investigated how people perform category-based induction for items that have uncertain categorization. Whereas normative considerations suggest that people should consider multiple relevant categories, much past research has argued that people focus on only the most likely category. A new method is introduced in which responses on…

Research on physics problem categorization has established that proficient problem solvers are able to group together physics problems that would be solved by similar principles and use conceptual approaches when solving problems, whereas weak solvers rely more heavily upon surface features (objects, contexts, and quantities provided) to identify…

Categories underlie a variety of functions beyond just classification, including inference and explanation. To classify, people need to distinguish between categories, but other functions rely on within-category information (things true of a particular category, independent of others). Despite the need for both types of knowledge, recent work…

Studies of category-based induction using different methods have found somewhat contradictory results for whether typical items are a stronger basis for induction. Typical category items are generally more similar to other category items than are atypical ones, and they are also more likely to be categorized into the category in question. We…

Category learning research has primarily focused on how people learn to classify items using simple observable features. However, classification is only 1 way to learn categories. In addition, many concepts have an underlying coherence that explains the featural similarity among exemplars, such as abstract coherent concepts whose instances differ…

Category-based inference is crucial for using past experiences to make sense of new ones. One challenge to inference of this kind is that most entities in the world belong to multiple categories (e.g., a jogger, a professor, and a vegetarian). We tested the hypothesis that the "degree of coherence" of a category-the degree to which category…

Eleven experiments involving over 200 undergraduate students investigated how categorization of examples influences feature prediction for new examples. Results suggest that category-based prediction generally relies on a single category rather than multiple categories when there is a clear target category. (SLD)

A reminding-based generalization view of category learning was studied in 4 experiments involving a total of 247 college students. Experiments demonstrated that categorization by reminding can affect what is learned about the category and later categorization performance. Implications of the results for category learning are discussed. (SLD)

Seven studies involving 256 undergraduates examined how people represent, access, and make inferences about the real-world category domain, foods. Results give a detailed picture of the use of cross-classification in a complex domain. (SLD)

Category knowledge allows for both the determination of category membership and an understanding of what the members of a category are like. Diagnostic information is used to determine category membership; prototypical information reflects the most likely features given category membership. Two experiments examined 2 means of category learning,…

Children learn many new categories and make inferences about these categories. Much work has examined how children make inferences on the basis of category knowledge. However, inferences may also affect what is learned about a category. Four experiments examine whether category-based inferences during category learning influence category knowledge…