Are These Mammals? The more closely an item matches the prototype of a concept, the more quickly we can identify the item as being an example of that concept. Because bats, walruses, and the rather peculiar-looking African long-tailed pangolin don’t fit our prototype for a mammal, it takes us longer to decide whether they belong to the category “mammal” than it does to classify animals that are closer to the prototype.
(l) George Steinmetz/Corbis
(c) Michael Krabs/age fotostock
(r) Bryan and Cherry Alexander/Science Source
(c) Michael Krabs/age fotostock
(r) Bryan and Cherry Alexander/Science Source