A Prototype Model that Learns and Generalizes Medin, Altom, Edelson & Freko (1982) XOR Category Structure As Humans Do

The computational modeling literature suggests that Exemplar models of categorization often replicated psychological phenomena better than Prototype models. However, those prototype models may have failed because the models’ important information processing mechanisms were misspecified. Here we introduce a new prototype model with complex yet realistic learning and selective attention processes. Its attention processes (a) have a prototype specific attention coverage structure and (b) are sensitive to correlations among feature dimensions. In simulation studies, CASPRE, our new prototype model, replicates the results of two important classical empirical studies.