Representativeness is the human-made cognitive construct for judging the probability or frequency of an event by how closely it resembles a typical case or prototype, ignoring base rates and statistical independence. Parameters: (1) similarity-based judgment, (2) neglect of base rates, (3) neglect of sample size, (4) insensitivity to predictability. The construct persists through teaching in statistics and psychology, through naming (heuristics-and-biases literature), and through repeated disciplinary use in diagnosing systematic error. [formal: representativitas | substrate: mind | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
representativeness
Representativeness is the human-made cognitive construct for judging the probability or frequency of an event by how closely it resembles a typical case or prototype, ignoring base rates and statistical independence. Parameters: (1) simila…
Definition
Why it is in scope
The human-made construct for judging probability by similarity to a prototype — a map of how people categorize, not the natural act of categorizing itself. Built to persist through teaching, naming, and disciplinary use.
Names and aliases
- representativenessen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrmwufxy01pxd1nllvxs1o1sINSTANCE_OF →
Representativeness is a specific kind of cognitive bias: it is the prototype-similarity judgment heuristic. INSTANCE_OF is correct — specific→general.
- cmrnoy4vc02wbd1nlgviuv6zcDEPENDS_ON →
The representativeness heuristic judges by matching instances to prototypes or categories. This matching requires pattern-recognition as an operational mechanism — remove pattern-recognition and there is no basis for similarity judgment. The heuristic stops operating, not merely stopping being sayable.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 18, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC
- Content hash
- 66a8f166f6b4c9ecab622320206377b2f14540d7b5397977f233765e9b43dad8