The benefits and costs of comparisons in a novel object categorization task: interactions with development
Category
Journal Article
Authors
Augier, L. & Thibaut, J.P.
Year
2013
Title
The benefits and costs of comparisons in a novel object categorization task: interactions with development
Journal / book / conference
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
Abstract
We investigated how children use within- or between-category comparisons to generalize novel names for novel objects on the basis of a non salient dimension (texture) rather than a salient one (shape). Previous studies have not experimentally addressed the costs associated with comparisons. We conjectured that increasing the number of stimuli to be compared (and thus converging evidence in favor of the target texture-based generalization), might not necessarily be beneficial, especially in young children (three-to-four-year-olds vs. five-to-six-year-olds). Our results showed that more evidence in favor of texture (i.e., more within-category exemplars sharing the same texture) did not linearly increase texture-based choices in the same way for younger and older children. They also revealed that between-category comparisons gave rise to texture-based generalizations in both age groups. Overall, our results show that even though within- and between-category comparisons contribute to generalizations based on texture, they also generate cognitive constraints which interact with age.
Issue
6
Volume
20
Pages
1126-1132
Keywords
Conceptual development, children, generalization, comparison