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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
Published on: April 19, 2017
Five-year-olds' beliefs about the discreteness of category boundaries for animals and artifacts
Marjorie Rhodes1, Susan A Gelman
1Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA. marjorie.rhodes@nyu.edu
Abstract:
Research on adult concepts indicates that category structure varies by domain; adults view membership in animal categories as absolute but membership in artifact categories as graded. In this study, we examined domain differences in beliefs about category boundaries among young children (5-year-olds). The results indicated that young children, like adults, were less likely to endorse graded category membership for animal than for artifact categories. These domain differences could not be attributed to domain differences in typicality. Implications for conceptual development and for models of domain specificity in adult cognition are discussed.
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