主题还是分类学? 对事物分类倾向的发展研究

Thematic or Taxonomic?:Object Categorization in Children and Adult

研究旨在探讨个体分类倾向的发展趋势与影响因素。实验一采用图片、文字两种方式呈现实验材料,并使用不同指导语,要求被试选择三个事物中关系更近的两个。结果表明,成人比儿童具有更显著的按照主题分类的倾向,实验材料的呈现方式对于被试分类倾向没有显著影响。实验二进一步考察了分类倾向的发展轨迹,随着年龄增长,个体按照主题划分事物的倾向增强,由倾向于按照分类学规则向按照主题分类的转变可能发生在小学低中年级之间。

This study aimed to investigate the development of categorization for either thematic or taxonomic relationships. In Study 1, 38 7-year-olds and 37 undergraduates were presented with pictures or words of three objects and asked to pick two of them that went together. The way of presenting the materials showed little effect in the preference. However, adults grouped the objects on the basis of relationships more often than children did. These results indicate that individuals develop a preference for thematic relations as they grow up. This developmental trend, confirmed in Study 2, suggests that the change from the taxonomic to the thematic may occur in the elementary school.