... deal with the flexibility problem of template theories as they suggest that templates are only needed for each feature and not each pattern, therefore less information needs to be stored in memory. Although prototype theories developed on template theories and suggested that humans have prototypes; which are a typical representation of a pattern/object rather than templates, problems were still apparent as they were rather vague on how an image was matched up with the appropriate prototype (Eysenck, 1993). Feature comparison theories improved on both template and prototype theories as they focused on the separate features of a pattern and not on the pattern as a whole. Medin, Ross and Markman (2001, p. 97) state that the key principle underlying feature comparison theories is 'that all objects are composed of separable, distinct parts referred to as features'. The hypothesis that we analyse and recognise objects with regard to distinctive features is ...

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