When Parameters Collide: A Warning about Categorization Models

Smith, J. David, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

Similarity-choice (S-C) models of categorization contain two principal mathematical transformations: an exponential-decay similarity function and a choice rule. However, there is a tension between the psychological processes that models emulate and the mathematics they use to do so. To illustrate this, I show that in these models an unappreciated interaction occurs between the mathematical transformations so that the stages of the model essentially cancel each other out. The result is that the model's output reflects its input linearly. This cancellation phenomenon has potentially serious implications regarding the interpretation and use of S-C models. The phenomenon also raises questions …

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Publication information: Article title: When Parameters Collide: A Warning about Categorization Models. Contributors: Smith, J. David - Author. Journal title: Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. Volume: 13. Issue: 5 Publication date: October 2006. Page number: 743+. © Psychonomic Society, Inc. Feb 2009. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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