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Changes in Beliefs About Category Homogeneity and Variability Across Childhood
Author(s) -
Brandone Amanda C.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12616
Subject(s) - categorization , psychology , homogeneity (statistics) , homogeneous , concept learning , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , variation (astronomy) , property (philosophy) , social psychology , mathematics , statistics , artificial intelligence , epistemology , physics , combinatorics , computer science , astrophysics , philosophy
Effective category‐based induction requires understanding that categories include both fundamental similarities between members and important variation. This article explores 4‐ to 11‐year‐olds’ ( n = 207) and adults’ ( n = 49) intuitions about this balance between within‐category homogeneity and variability using a novel induction task in which participants predict the distribution of a property among members of a novel category. Across childhood, children learned to recognize variability within categories—showing increasing sensitivity to the role of property type and domain in constraining inferences. Children below the age of 6 showed evidence for a domain‐general assumption that categories are homogeneous—generalizing properties broadly to 100% of category members. These studies support important developmental changes in category representations that may influence category‐based induction.