Many people categorize tomatoes as a vegetable, even though they technically meet the scientific definition for a fruit. A likely reason for this is that:
A) they are using classical categorization.
B) tomatoes only belong in a category of their own.
C) tomatoes are closer to most people's prototype for a vegetable than their prototype for a fruit.
D) the tomato is a common prototype for fruit.
Answer: C
Rationale: People can use prototypes—mental representations of an average category member—to determine whether something belongs is a category or not. Because a tomato is much closer to the typical prototype for a vegetable than the prototype for a fruit, individuals are likely to categorize a tomato as a vegetable. In contrast, classical categorization involves classifying objects or ideas according to a certain set of rules or definitions.
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