| Abstract: | The concept of the prototype (clear category member) and the fuzzy-set form of cognitive categorization that it entails are useful as an organizational principle for research and assessment in personality psychology. With the aid of a prototype framework for conducting research, personality assessment instruments have been refined, predictable behavioral acts have been brought into focus, abnormal diagnosis has improved, and person perception has been studied. Prototypes work to the extent they provide a better understanding of how people actually think about person variables and behavior. Some of the past payoffs of a prototype approach in the field of personality psychology are reviewed, and a multidimensional scaling model of personality assessment involving a similarity-to-the-prototype rating task is introduced. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
