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Conditions under which function information attenuates name extension via shape.

Danielle Truxaw1, Max M Krasnow, Chantelle Woods

  • 1University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, USA.

Psychological Science
|May 11, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Children prioritize object shape over function when naming new items. However, information about an artifact's intended use, not just its design, helps them learn to focus on function, improving word learning.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Development
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Philosophy of Science

Background:

  • Children's artifact categorization often relies on perceptual cues like shape.
  • This shape bias is thought to stem from shape being a reliable indicator of an object's designed function.
  • The role of intentionality and functional information in overriding this bias is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether information about an artifact's design is necessary or sufficient for children to overcome the shape bias.
  • To examine how different types of functional information influence children's artifact naming and word extension.
  • To explore the developmental mechanisms underlying the shift from shape-based to function-based categorization.

Main Methods:

  • Children were presented with novel artifacts and varying types of information (design, current use, possible use).

Related Experiment Videos

  • The salience of functional information was manipulated during the introduction of candidate objects.
  • Children's artifact name extensions were analyzed to assess the influence of different cues.

    • Main Results:

    • Information about an artifact's design (creator's intentions) alone does not consistently override the shape bias.
    • Children extend artifact names based on any salient information specifying function (design, current, or possible use).
    • Functional information, particularly when made salient, significantly influences children's word extension, reducing reliance on shape.

    Conclusions:

    • The shape bias in children's artifact naming is not solely dependent on understanding design intentions.
    • Children utilize diverse functional cues to learn artifact names, especially when these cues are highlighted.
    • Developmental changes involve learning to prioritize functional properties over perceptual features like shape for accurate categorization.