Inductive generalization with familiar categories: developmental changes in children's reliance on perceptual similarity and kind information.

ABSTRACT: Inductive generalization is ubiquitous in human cognition; however, the factors underpinning this ability early in development remain contested. The present study was designed to (1) test the predictions of the naïve theory and a similarity-based account and (2) examine the mechanism by which labels promote induction. In Experiment 1, 3- to 5-year-old children made inferences about highly familiar categories. The results were not fully consistent with either theoretical account. In contrast to the predictions of the naïve theory approach, the youngest children in the study did not ignore perceptually compelling lures in favor of category-match items; in contrast to the predictions of the similarity-based account, no group of participants favored perceptually compelling lures in the presenc

SUBMITTER: Godwin KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4493371 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature