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Related Experiment Videos

The shape of thought.

Lori Markson1, Gil Diesendruck, Paul Bloom

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. markson@berkeley.edu

Developmental Science
|March 13, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Children

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • Children learning object names often generalize based on shape, a phenomenon known as the shape bias.
  • The origins of the shape bias are debated: is it learned associations or a fundamental aspect of cognitive development?

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether the shape bias in children's word learning is based on learned associations or broader cognitive principles.
  • To explore the developmental emergence and scope of the shape bias.

Main Methods:

  • The study presents evidence supporting the role of general cognitive properties in the development of the shape bias.
  • Analysis focuses on the early emergence of the shape bias and its relation to categorization.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Evidence suggests the shape bias emerges early in childhood development.
  • The shape bias is not restricted solely to object names.
  • The shape bias is closely linked to children's fundamental understanding of categories.

Conclusions:

  • The shape bias appears to stem from general properties of children's language and world understanding, not just learned name-category associations.
  • This bias is an early-developing and integral part of how children learn and conceptualize categories.