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Theory-based correlations and their role in children's concepts
S E Barrett1, H Abdi, G L Murphy
1Department of Psychology, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015-3068.
Child Development
|December 1, 1993
Summary
Children use intuitive theories to connect concept features, influencing typicality judgments and category membership. These theories also determine which attributes are most central to a concept, linking knowledge to world understanding.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Conceptual Development
Background:
- Conceptual development research highlights the role of intuitive theories.
- The precise mechanisms by which theories influence concept formation remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how intuitive theories link features within concepts in school-aged children.
- To determine the influence of theory-based correlations on children's judgments and attribute centrality.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted with elementary school-aged children.
- Experiment 1 examined typicality judgments and category membership decisions.
- Experiment 2 assessed the role of theories in determining attribute centrality.
Main Results:
- Theory-based correlations significantly impact typicality judgments and category membership.
- Children's intuitive theories guide the selection of central concept attributes.
- Feature correlations serve as a bridge between children's concepts and their intuitive theories.
Conclusions:
- Intuitive theories are crucial for organizing conceptual knowledge in children.
- Feature correlations, guided by theories, are fundamental to conceptual structure.
- This research clarifies the influence of intuitive theories on children's concept formation.