Concepts are used to organize information in a manner that helps us understand things even when we are encountering them for the first time. Formal concepts, like “circle,” allow us to categorize objects and ideas in a very precise way—something either meets the criteria to be included in that category, or it doesn’t. Natural concepts develop as a result of our everyday encounters, and vary according to our culture and individual experiences. We tend to use prototypes, ideal representations with features we associate most with a category, to identify natural concepts.