TY - JOUR
T1 - Preschool Ontology
T2 - The Role of Beliefs About Category Boundaries in Early Categorization
AU - Rhodes, Marjorie
AU - Gelman, Susan A.
AU - Karuza, J. Christopher
N1 - Funding Information:
Support was provided by the National Science Foundation grant BCS-1147543 to Rhodes and by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant HD-36043 to Gelman.
PY - 2014/1
Y1 - 2014/1
N2 - These studies examined the role of ontological beliefs about category boundaries in early categorization. Study 1 found that preschool-age children (N = 48, aged 3-4 years old) have domain-specific beliefs about the meaning of category boundaries; children judged the boundaries of natural kind categories (animal species, human gender) as discrete and strict, but they judged the boundaries of other categories (artifact categories, human race) as more flexible. Study 2 demonstrated that these domain-specific ontological intuitions guide children's learning of new categories; children (N = 28, 3-year-olds) assumed that the boundaries of novel animal categories would be narrower and more strictly defined than novel artifact categories. These data demonstrate that abstract beliefs about the meaning of category boundaries shape early conceptual development.
AB - These studies examined the role of ontological beliefs about category boundaries in early categorization. Study 1 found that preschool-age children (N = 48, aged 3-4 years old) have domain-specific beliefs about the meaning of category boundaries; children judged the boundaries of natural kind categories (animal species, human gender) as discrete and strict, but they judged the boundaries of other categories (artifact categories, human race) as more flexible. Study 2 demonstrated that these domain-specific ontological intuitions guide children's learning of new categories; children (N = 28, 3-year-olds) assumed that the boundaries of novel animal categories would be narrower and more strictly defined than novel artifact categories. These data demonstrate that abstract beliefs about the meaning of category boundaries shape early conceptual development.
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U2 - 10.1080/15248372.2012.713875
DO - 10.1080/15248372.2012.713875
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84893797506
SN - 1524-8372
VL - 15
SP - 78
EP - 93
JO - Journal of Cognition and Development
JF - Journal of Cognition and Development
IS - 1
ER -