5.3 Conceptual Development

Views

Concepts change with sha

Modern

Keil

Defining features

Characteristic features

Procedure

"essential aspects of a category"

"common but not essential
aspects of a category
"

Eg. Grandma => woman who
has a child that has a child

Embedded Concepts

Eg. gray hair, wears glasses

1⃣ Asked elementary-school children to define terms

2⃣ Analysed responses in terms of defining features and characteristic features

Questions that defy characteristic
features but not defining features

Results

younger children focus
on characteristic features

ability to focus on defining
features improves with age

interrelated or embedded in causal frameworks about how the world works

Eg. Animals, freedom

Susan Carey

Results

10 year olds

4 year olds

have a theory of what animals are based on biological properties (eating, breathing, offspring)

based on appearance and behaviour

focus on parts that are common
to familiar animals to recognise as an animal

attribute animalistic behaviour to familiar animals 🐶 and not unfamiliar animals 🐌

little understanding of eating, defecating,
having babies as biological processes

Procedure

click to edit

never attribute animal properties to non-animals

Criticisms

understanding of animals
may begin earlier

influenced by experience
(eg. having a pet worm)

babies have some naive theories
of what animals are

Animal / Human
properties

studied 14 month olds

Results

infants were able to consistently
match human activities to human toys