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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Investigating Motor Skill Learning Processes with a Robotic Manipulandum

Investigating Motor Skill Learning Processes with a Robotic Manipulandum

Published on: February 12, 2017

Object manipulability affects children's and adults' conceptual processing.

Solène Kalénine¹, Françoise Bonthoux

¹LPNC, CNRS UMR 5105, Université Pierre Mendès-France, Grenoble, France. solene.kalenine@upmf-grenoble.fr

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

|June 24, 2008

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Children and adults process object concepts differently based on manipulability. Manipulable objects are linked to function, while non-manipulable objects are linked to perception, showing early concept development.

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Methods for Presenting Real-world Objects Under Controlled Laboratory Conditions

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Linguistics

Background:

Children utilize perceptual and functional data distinctively for natural and artifact concepts.
Object manipulability significantly influences adult conceptual processing beyond domain.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of object manipulability on conceptual processing in 5-year-olds, 7-year-olds, and adults.
To analyze how object manipulability and domain affect the use of perceptual similarity versus contextual/functional information.

Main Methods:

A picture matching task was employed to assess conceptual relations.
Reaction times were measured for identifying perceptual similarity (e.g., jacket-coat) and contextual/functional (e.g., jacket-hanger) links.
Data were analyzed based on object manipulability (manipulable vs. non-manipulable) and domain (natural vs. artifact).

Main Results:

Both children and adults exhibited faster identification of contextual/functional relations for manipulable objects compared to non-manipulable ones.
Participants were quicker to identify perceptual similarity relations for non-manipulable objects than for manipulable objects, especially with natural concepts.
An early distinction in conceptual processing between manipulable and non-manipulable objects was observed.

Conclusions:

Conceptual processing demonstrates an early differentiation based on object manipulability.
Findings support embodied theories of concepts and suggest further research into concept formation.
Object manipulability is a key factor in how individuals, including children, form and process concepts.