Perceptual vs conceptual categorization

The study considered whether Ss use the same strategies in categorizing biographical descriptions as in perceptual classifications. A biographical description consisted of a person's age, income, number of children, and years of education. The Ss were asked to classify these descriptions as residents of two different suburbs in order to compare the results with a previous study using schematic faces. The 123 Ss were assigned to one of three alternative organizations of the descriptions: a table, a "name" organized paragraph in which each person was successively described, or an "attribute" organized paragraph in which each attribute was successively described. Essentially the same results were obtained for schematic faces and biographical descriptions, except for a few differences which were attributed to the use of more realistic categories (suburbs) in the present study. When more realistic categories are used, a S's prior experience can influence which attributes he emphasizes and possibly his formation of an abstract prototype.