On the Mechanism of Categorization

The purpose of research is to study the phenomenon of categorization, which is viewed as a mechanism for classifying a cognizable object into a certain class, including not only the names of material objects, but also sensory and perceptual patterns, social stereotypes, standards of behavior, generalizations that carry the combined social and individual experience. Methods . A two-stage experimental study was conducted, including: analysis of 52 counter texts aimed to reconstruct the meta-linguistic activity of the subjects and detect traces of categorization processes; analysis of the composition of categories "restored" in the form of reactions to stimulus words (furniture, chair, to twist, shame) during a directed associative experiment. The results of the experiment indicate that the categories of stimulus words are formed in different ways. Nouns that have a substantive relationship form categories composed primarily of nouns. The sign of processuality expressed by the verb is objectified by creating a special kind of representation in the brain – a scheme, a trajectory of movement or a program of action, which is then translated back into the verbal form when creating a category. Words implying abstract concepts and phenomena are objectified using a reference situation related to the phenomenon being described. Conclusion . Categorization depends on cognitive mechanisms and social factors. An important role is played by the initial level of cognitive and linguistic development and the factors of assimilation of experience – the degree of involvement and interest, as well as the accompanying emotional background of the situation. The basic, "lower" level of cognition presupposes limited categorization possibilities in the implementation of mental and speech operations. In the process of mastering the language system, this limitation is leveled, while progress is ensured not by restructuring existing lower systems, but by the emergence of a new cognitive level with a new "operating system" that is constantly updated in real time. Language participates in this process, on the one hand, as one of the categories that represents a set of knowledge about language (metalanguage), on the other hand, as a tool for schematizing external experience and translating it into an internal plan.