A GROUP OF 46 5-YEAR-OLDS, 24 GIRLS AND 22 BOYS, AND 21 4-YEAR-OLDS, 11 GIRLS AND 10 BOYS, PARTICIPATED IN A STUDY TO DETERMINE THE STYLES OF CATEGORIZATION EMPLOYED BY PRESCHOOL AND KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN. FOUR CATEGORIZING STYLES WERE DEFINED AND USED IN THE STUDY--DESCRIPTIVE PART-WHOLE--E.G., CLASSIFYING HUMAN FIGURES BECAUSE "THEY ALL HAVE FEET," DESCRIPTIVE GLOBAL OR TOTAL OBJECTIVE SIMILARITIES--E.G., GROUPING MALE FIGURES BECAUSE "THEY ARE ALL MEN," RELATIONAL-CONTEXTUAL OR DENOTING FUNCTIONAL INTERDEPENDENCE BETWEEN ELEMENTS IN AN ARRAY--E.G., SELECTING A PICTURE OF A HORSE AND A PICTURE OF A STAGECOACH BECAUSE "A HORSE IS USED TO PULL A STAGECOACH," CATEGORICAL-INFERENTIAL OR CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF INFERRED CHARACTERISTICS INCLUDING FUNCTION, CLASS MEMBERSHIP, PARTICULAR ATTRIBUTES, OR GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. RESULTS OF THE STUDY INDICATED THAT STYLES OF CATEGORIZATION FOUND WITH OLDER SUBJECTS (YOUNG ADULTS) OCCURRED ALSO WITH THE YOUNG CHILDREN. THE DESCENDING ORDER OF FREQUENCY OF STYLES WAS DESCRIPTIVE PART-WHOLE, RELATIONAL-CONTEXTUAL, CATEGORICAL-INFERENTIAL, AND DESCRIPTIVE-GLOBAL. A SIMILAR PATTERN APPEARED FOR BOYS AND GIRLS AT AGES 4 AND 5, WITH THE EXCEPTION THAT BOYS, TENDED TO USE FUNCTIONAL LABELS OR LABELS DENOTING OCCUPATION MORE FREQUENTLY. A STUDY OF INTELLECTUAL CORRELATES REVEALED THAT I.Q. DOES NOT SIGNIFICANTLY RELATE TO ANY STYLISTIC CATEGORY FOR BOYS. FOR GIRLS, A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WAS OBTAINED BETWEEN IQ AND A CLASS-NAMING TYPE RESPONSE. PERSONALITY CORRELATES OF STYLISTIC APPROACHES WERE FOUND. THE BOYS' DESCRIPTIVE PART-WHOLE RESPONSES RELATED TO RELAXED ATTITUDES AND EMOTIONAL CONTROL, THE GIRLS TENDED TO DAY DREAM AND TO BE NONCAUTIOUS.