Examines the relative utility of exemplar and linguistic information for acquiring basic and superordinate categories. Developmental differences were predicted in the ability to benefit from the linguistically specified information. Preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade children were tested. (Author/SS)

The results of two experiments showed that five year olds can learn to solve class-inclusion problems if they are forced to consider the contradiction between their incorrect answers and their correct counting of the superordinate and subordinate classes. (JMB)

Second-grade children, third-grade children, and adults judged whether pictures were members of a positive or negative memory set while trying to ignore irrelevant words printed inside the pictures. (JMB)

Asked children and adults to recall events from "Sesame Street." Found that subjects' memory was influenced by causal factors (number of causal relations to other events, place in the story's causal chain) and this influence increased with age; children recalled actions, whereas adults recalled protagonists' goals; and children's recall…

Three experiments used a familiarization/novelty or a habituation/dishabituation procedure to examine developmental change in infants' tendency to parse exemplars into separate categories. Results indicated that 10-month olds appeared to form differentiated categories, whereas 4- and 7-month olds formed a single category to include the range of…

Examined preschoolers' ability to map novel adjectives to object properties in two experiments. Found that 4-year-olds could extend novel adjectives from target to matching test object whether objects were drawn from same, or different, basic level categories. If 3-year-olds' first extended a novel adjective to objects in the same basic level…

Investigated 4-, 8-, and 11-year-olds' ability to categorize intentionally false and true statements as lies and truths. Found that older children were more likely to categorize false statements as lies and true statements as truths than were 4-year-olds. Antisocial lies were rated as most serious, and "white lies" as least serious.…

This study examined the effect of exemplar typicality on reaction time and accuracy of categorization. High-functioning children (age 9-12), adolescents (age 13-16), and adults with autism (age 17-48) and matched controls were tested in a category verification procedure. All groups showed improved processing throughout the lifespan for typical and…

The distinction between individuals (e.g., Rin-Tin-Tin) and categories (e.g., dogs) is fundamental in human thought. Two studies examined factors that influence when 2- to 3-year-old children and adults focus on individuals versus categories. Mother-child dyads were presented with pictures and toys (e.g., a picture of a boat or a toy boat).…

This study examined the generality of the logarithmic to linear transition in children's representations of numerical magnitudes and the role of subjective categorization of numbers in the acquisition of more advanced understanding. Experiment 1 (49 girls and 41 boys, ages 5-8 years) suggested parallel transitions from kindergarten to second grade…

An investigation of the category-recall relationship using first, third, and fifth graders as subjects. Recall was found to be a function of the number of categories in the sort, and there were no differences in recall among the three retrieval conditions. (Author/SDH)

Evaluates some possible reasons for the occurrence and eventual correction of children's naming errors in an experiment in which two-, four-, and six-year-olds learned two artificial object names in succession. (HOD)

Two studies assessed the ability of two groups of preschool children (ages two to four and three to five years, respectively) to label and categorize age groups on the basis of photographs and dolls representing the life span. Results indicated age and sex differences. (Author/CI)

The most significant finding is that classification according to complete similarity not only occurs much earlier than reported by Inhelder and Piaget, but also does not follow the developmental course reported by Inhelder and Piaget. (Author)