Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Children's use of comparison and function in novel object categorization.

Katherine Kimura1, Samuel B Hunley2, Laura L Namy2

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, United States.

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|February 25, 2018
PubMed
Summary

Children learn to categorize new objects by comparing familiar examples, especially when function is highlighted. This comparison helps them identify subtle relational features crucial for understanding categories.

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

What's in a Name When It Isn't a Word? 17-Month-Olds' Mapping of Nonverbal Symbols to Object Categories.

Infancy : the official journal of the International Society on Infant Studies·2021
Same author

Communicative Context Affects Use of Referential Prosody.

Cognitive science·2019
Same author

Rational Higher-Order Belief Revision in Young Children.

Child development·2018
Same author

What is peripersonal space? An examination of unresolved empirical issues and emerging findings.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science·2018
Same author

Categorization and Its Developmental Relation to Early Language.

Child development·2017
Same author

Eye movements reveal persistent sensitivity to sound symbolism during word learning.

Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition·2017

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Child Development

Background:

  • Young children initially use obvious perceptual cues (e.g., shape) for object categorization.
  • Development involves a shift towards more complex relational reasoning for category membership.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the information sources young children utilize for classifying novel objects.
  • To examine how comparing familiar category instances and attending to function aids novel categorization.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments were conducted involving young children.
  • Children were presented with familiar category instances for comparison, with varying emphasis on function.
  • Categorization of novel instances was assessed.
Keywords:
CategorizationComparisonFamiliar object categoriesFunctionNovel objectsPerceptual similarity

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Comparing perceptually similar category members facilitated the discovery of non-obvious relational features.
  • Highlighting function information alongside comparison further enhanced children's ability to identify relevant relational structures.
  • These findings supported the categorization of novel instances.

Conclusions:

  • Comparison of familiar exemplars aids novel object categorization in young children.
  • Attention to function information enhances the effectiveness of comparison by highlighting relevant relational features.
  • Relational reasoning is supported by comparative processes that make subtle, functionally relevant structures more salient.