ABSTRACT
Category width (also known as breadth of categorization, band width, or equivalence width) is a measure of “the range of instances included in a cognitive category” (Pettigrew, 1958). For example, given a particular group of ideas and asked to apply some form of categorical description, an individual will respond along a continuum of inclusion to exclusion for instances within a categorical class. Narrow categorizers are typically conservative, excluding items and forming narrow classes. When measuring cognitive categories, narrow categorizers prefer to exclude possibly inappropriate instances through overdiscrimination and limiting the scope of their category ranges. Broad/wide categorizers, on the other hand, prefer to risk the inclusion of possibly inappropriate instances by expanding the scope of their category ranges and over-generalizing (Pettigrew, 1958). In other words, narrow categorization usually implies a willingness to risk the exclusion of positive categorical items, whereas wide categorizers are more willing to risk the inclusion of negative categorical items.
