1992/01/01 by Mansur Lalljee, Roger Lamb, Robert P. Abelson
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Language and cultural evolution #Child and Animal Learning Development #Deception detection and forensic psychology
paper · doi:10.1080/14792779243000050
This chapter examines the processes whereby the lay person classifies events. It examines the relationships between beliefs about events and the relationship between classification and explanation. The notion of “event prototypes” is proposed as a productive vehicle for investigating these processes. Event prototypes are coherent and inter-related sets of characteristics concerning the sort of person who typically features in the event, the typical explanation for the event and so on. The studies carried out concern theft. First, the domain was mapped out by analysing the similarities perceived between 35 thefts. This analysis showed 2 main clusters contrasting “white collar” thefts such as embezzlement with “active” ones. The latter cluster was subdivided into various subclusters, which included violent thefts such as bank robbery and non-violent ones such as picking pockets. Next the content of the prototypes of 12 thefts selected from four different clusters was investigated. The characteristics included the sort of person who typically carried out the theft, its typical explanation, its typical method, its typical consequences, etc. Finally a series of studies showed the use of event prototypes in the classification of ambiguous acts, and demonstrated that the prototypes are involved in their explanation.