Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Are names ever mapped onto preexisting categories?

W E Merriman¹, J M Schuster, L Hager

¹Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Ohio 44242.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. General

|September 1, 1991

Summary

Children map new words to categories based on shared features, a cognitive process confirmed in preschoolers and adults. This word learning strategy influences color naming but not shape generalization.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Minimal clinically important differences in the Spine Oncology Study Group Outcomes Questionnaire (SOSGOQ2.0) in patients with symptomatic spinal metastases.

The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society·2026

Same author

The introduction of a 42 + 4 h work week for surgical residents in Switzerland - a stakeholder analysis.

Langenbeck's archives of surgery·2024

Same author

Personal dosimetry for positron emitters, and occupational exposures from clinical use of gallium-68.

Journal of radiological protection : official journal of the Society for Radiological Protection·2022

Same author

Use of Second Window ICG in spinal cord biopsy of a mildly contrast-enhancing lesion: Technical note and review of the literature.

Neuro-Chirurgie·2021

Same author

Virtual estimation of effective dose in neutron fields.

Journal of radiological protection : official journal of the Society for Radiological Protection·2021

Same author

12- and 18-month follow-up after residential treatment of methamphetamine dependence: Influence of treatment drop-out and different treatment concepts.

Journal of psychiatric research·2020

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Linguistics

Background:

Children's word learning is crucial for cognitive development.
Previous research suggests children categorize objects to learn new words.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether children map novel common nouns to attribute cluster categories.
To examine if this mapping tendency is influenced by age or other generalization strategies.

Main Methods:

Three studies were conducted with preschoolers and adults.
Participants were presented with novel nouns and asked to interpret them in relation to pre-exposed categories.
Object similarity judgments and color naming tasks were used to assess generalization and mapping.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

Both preschoolers and adults mapped novel nouns to pre-exposed attribute cluster categories.
This mapping was independent of shape-based generalization.
Color naming was biased by prior exposure to color sets and their covariation with other dimensions.

Conclusions:

Children and adults utilize attribute clusters when learning new common nouns.
Word mapping and shape generalization appear to be distinct cognitive processes.
Prior visual experience with colors influences subsequent color naming, highlighting the role of perceptual learning in language acquisition.