Chapter 2 Levels of categorisation

1) THE NAIVE VIEW OF THE WORLD we are surrounded by identifiable organisms and objects (such
as dogs, trees, house and cars). Yet when it comes to categorising these entities, we normally have a choice
between categories on different levels of generality.
2) HIERARCHICAL RELATIONSHIP dogs are regarded as SUPERORDINATE to terriers, and terriers are
superordinate to Scotch terriers and bull terriers; looking in the other direction, dogs are SUBORDINATE
to mammals, and mammals are subordinate to Animals.
3) SUPERORDINATE LEVEL
* if we approach organisms and objects on the superordinate level, there is no common shape
*there is no common overall shape and no common underlying gestalt that applies to all category
members
*the non-basic status
*collecting function (they can assemble lower level categories with respect to a certain attribute)
*highlighting attributes (superordinate category MAMMAL highlighting attributes 'fed by mother's
milk', 'born from the mother's womb')
*they are subsidiary because they rely on basic level categories for their gestalt and for the majority of
their attributes (parasitic categorisation)
*they are only developed where there is a special need for them
*they have one or several category-wide attributes
*SUPERORDINATE TERMS do not normally come to mind first and are learnt by children only after BASIC
LEVEL words have been acquired
*SUPERORDINATE LEXICAL CATEGORIES: one of the main reasons for creating superordinate lexical
categories is the highlighting of salient general, and mostly functional, attributes
4) SUBORDINATE LEVEL CATEGORIES
*each contain category items which closely resemble the items in the neighbouring categories
*they do have a common characteristic shape
5) CLASS INCLUSION the view that the superordinate class includes All items on the subordinate level;
the principle underlying hierarchical structure
*it seems that the whole range of concrete entities in the world can be hierarchically ordered according to
the principle of class inclusion
6) TAXONOMIES the detailed classifications; to classify all the objects on hand
7) SCIENTIFIC TAXONOMIES to classify all the objects on hand
*they consist of too many levels

*as objective as possible

*neither mind-sized nor mind-oriented
SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION to provide a complete system of taxonomic levels
*they can always be set up by an act of definition
8) FOLK TAXONOMIES
*we approach the hierarchies from the centre
*we concentrate on basic level categories (such as dogs, cars, houses, etc.)
*our hierarchies are anchored in basic level categories
*they are characterised by gaps, inconsistencies and alternative paths (i.e. offering both MAMMAL and
ANIMAL as superordinates for DOG and CAT)
9) GENRERIC LEVEL = BASIC LEVEL the level on which the largest bundles of naturally correlated
attributes are available for categorisation
*BASIC LEVEL is where we perceive the most obvious differences between the organisms and objects of
the world
*BASIC LEVEL is where the overlap of shapes is so great that it permits reliable gestalt perception, which
is particularly easy for prototypical examples
*it provides the largest amount of relevant and digestible information about the objects and organisms of
the world
*where the largest amount of information about an item can be obtained with the least cognitive effort
*corresponds to the most obvious discontinuities in nature
*an ideal balance between internal similarity and external distinctiveness
*they are organised round prototypes and have fuzzy boundaries
*the primacy of the generic level
*cognitive categories on the generic level are the most numerous
*the names that first come to mind
*generic level is often culturally salient (salient = essential)
*BASIC LEVEL TERMS: simple one-syllable words
*sometimes rooted in basic biological needs
*centrality
10) GENERIC LEVEL CATEGORIES
*represent the preferred cognitive perspective
*they meet 'basic' cognitive needs

*they pinpoint where the focus of human interest lies

*it is easy enough to produce an average overall shape for basic level categories and to assume an
underlying gestalt
*characterised by 'taxonomic centrality' (regarding to their position within hierarchies
*the names for generic categories are readily available for human interaction and first come to mind in
naming situations
*their morphological structure is simple
11) THE PRIMACY OF THE BASIC LEVEL (FACTORS):
*the common overall shape which is perceived holistically and can be seen as an important indicator of
gestalt perception
*it is only on the basic level that organisms and objects are marked by really characteristic actions (cats
can be stroked, flowers can be sniffed, balls can be rolled and bounced)
*the basic level is where the largest amount of information about an item can be obtained with the least
cognitive effort
12) NON-GENERIC LEVELS
*subsidiary status
*not fully developed
13) ATTRIBUTES can be understood as representing similarity between category members
*they convey information
14) COGNITIVE ECONOMY
*explains best why the basic level is particularly well suited to meet our cognitive needs
*claims that the basic level is where the largest amount of information about an item can be obtained with
the least cognitive effort
15) CULTURAL MODELS do not only influence the selection of prototypes, but are equally important for
the choice of the basic level perspective
16) THE SYMBIOSIS OF BASIC LEVEL AND PROTOTYPE CATEGORIES
a) prototype categories are most fully developed on the basic level
b) basic level categories only function as they do because they are structured as prototype categories
17) PROTOTYPES

*they maximize the efficiency of basic level categories

*they maximize the distinctiveness of basic level categories because they attract not only the
largest number of attributes shared inside the category, but also the largest number of attributes
not shared with members of other categories

*they maximize holistic perception

*their gestalts integrate all functionally important parts
18) PARASITIC CATEGORISATION
*parasitic = pasoytniczy
*'borrowing' the gestalt properties of the superordinate category from the basic level categories involved
(eg. FURNITURE we think of a chair, a table, a bed we use their attributes for description, such as
'has legs', 'has a back', 'used to sit on')
19) COLLECTING FUNCTION the faculty to assemble a large number of categories available for easy
handling
COLLECTING CATEGORIES the basic cognitive function of collecting categories may lead to the
establishment of extensive scientific taxonomies
20) SALIENT ATTRIBUTES
*they support superordinate cognitive categories
*function, material, origin, relatedness